Masshiro bride
by Shuujin
Summary: Beautiful. White dressed, walking elegantly, bouquet on hands, -“Naruto… I’m happy.”- she never before faked a real smile better. // Insane. The look on his face insane as he headed to Konoha -“Let’s go.”- with his stained sword on hand. /SasuSaku//
1. The red eyed enemy

* * *

..

_Hello there. :D_

_I hope you like this fanfic. The plot is one hundred per cent based on a dream I had the other night about this precise situation, only that of course I added more things as my dreams are like.. broken ^^" well, as every dream. E-erm, if there are imperfections (as "where the hell are the tough guys?") blame it on my brain.("I..I killed them?") _

_This is a celebration!! Wooh~! Guess what! I finally had a 10(ten) in English writing! ;-; OMG I'm a happy person! xD That gave me the strength to post this. Streeength :DD_

_Masashi Kishimoto is _the one_, yeah? He made this possible. And he owns it!_

_-takes a long sip of her coffee and lift the cup- Enjoy!_

* * *

_////o////-_

_The day finally begun._

_The day when…_

…

...

..

She stepped out of the shower.

_He wrapped a towel around his hips._

_//o_

She took her hairdryer while humming happily.

_He roughly dried his hair with other towel while coughing lightly._

_o//_

Once done, Sakura brushed her teeth and stepped into her big closet.

_Once his hair was reasonably damp, he eyed the chair which had his clothes hanging from._

_///o_

Her smile was bright when she closed the front door of her soon-to-be-gone house and headed to the beauty salon.

_His face was blank when he closed his room's door and headed to their main room, where his companions waited for him._

_---_

"Sakura! There you are!"

"_Sasuke.. What the hell took you so long?"_

"Ino!" She grinned.

"_Shut it." He murmured._

_---_

After producing her image for hours, in the evening, she started dressing between phone calls with congratulating cheers.

_After finally reorganizing the whole plan a couple of times, he started to equip._

_----_

Her beautiful legs carefully slipped inside the large skirt.

_He shoved his hand inside the long black leather glove -fingers uncovered- and made a fist. The leather made a stretching noise and he loosened the grip._

_----_

She wrapped the corset around her waist and her maid happily tightened it.

_He put on his boats. Old, dirty, silent boats… _

_-----_

She slipped her arms gracefully on the white gloves and looked at her white covered hands with a smile on her face.

_He slipped his arms through the sleeves of his black vesture, the Uchiha symbol pride and showing on his back._

_-------------------------///_

Finally, her trembling hands placed the veil above her pink scalp and tried not to bit her lips so the lipstick wouldn't blur.

_Finally, he grabbed his sword. His only loyal partner. The raven unsheathed the blade –not entirely- and looked at the reflex of his monotonous eyes. He narrowed them and rudely tucked the cutting edge again in place. _

_///-------------------------_

Her green eyes shone with emotion.

_The Sharingan activated with anticipation._

Her red, red lips parted to sigh.

_His lips traced a thin line but his jaw was tight._

… ….

…

"Are you ready?"

"_Ready now?"_

….

…_._

She looked up, clearly hopeful.

_He looked down, secretly thoughtful._

…

… …

"…Yes."

"_Let's go."_

_---------------/////////////////////o_

**Masshiro bride.**

_o/////////////----------------------_

-//ol **Chapter one** lo\\-

* * *

...

She was so beautiful. Her eyes were now closed with nervousness, but she was telling herself to calm down. The maid, who couldn't get the smile out of her face, waited for her friend to stop walking from one side to the other and held her gloved hands with her own.

"Silly, didn't you say you were ready?"

"What if I trip…?"

"Not going to happen! Look at you, you're shinning tonight, Sakura-sama."

"…Th-thank you."

"Don't cry right now! You have to impress him, remember? And you'll ruin the make up I had so much trouble putting on you!"

Sakura chuckled. "Y-you're right, I need to calm down a bit."

The maid squeezed her hands before letting go. "Don't worry, everything will be perfect."

The bride nodded.

The organ started playing. The candles were lit in line, one after another, and people started to gather to see the couple who decided to marry on the very center of Konoha.

"They are marrying in the Avenue?"

"Mommy, where's the bride?"

"This is so sweet…"

The groom waited on the altar, his hands were joined on his lap and he too, was smiling brightly. All the heads were turned towards the end of the intense red carpet, where the white dressed woman was appearing. Blue eyes watched the situation with endless happiness.

Their Sakura-chan was going to marry.

And there she was. Beautiful. Simply beautiful. Her usually straight hair was curled on the ends, her pale skin was exposed at the right places and it looked so soft. Her face showed.. peace. Beside her and intertwining his arm with hers, was Kakashi. The bouquet on her left hand was full and the dress shaped her body perfectly. It looked as if she was made to be like that. White dressed, charming, pure. Sakura.

When she passed through Naruto, she glanced at him and her smile widened.

"_Naruto… I'm happy."_ She mouthed.

And he saw it.

The most beautiful smile ever seen.

A smile that could sprout jealously towards the man standing at the end of that red carpet, waiting for her. Owning her.

And then he looked down once the couple passed through him.

He wished.. that _he_ could be seeing this too.

Kakashi looked at her, smiling behind his mask which curiously was white that night. She smiled back and nodded. Her ex-sensei winked quickly at her before letting go.

She turned and locked her eyes to her future husband.

She was close.

So close.

A few steps for changing her life.

Her life.

Her name.

_Green eyes widened so slightly it was barely noticeable._

Her house.

Her family.

_Her hand reached out. He also did._

Her bed.

Her ow—

…

…

_The tips of their fingers were inches away._

_And she _held _her breath._

…

… …

_PPPPAAMMM!_

The ground shook.

_/---_

_H-her owner..../_

* * *

...

The door opened without ceremony and hit the wall hard.

"Tsunade-sama!!"

The Hokage placed the crystal ball which had been transmitting her pupil's wedding to her -…and which had showed her an unpleasant image a second ago, something was wrong- on the corner of her desk and looked at Shizune worriedly.

"We are under attack!!"

She heard the words she had been afraid to hear and broke the pencil on her hand.

"What… what did you say?!"

"We still don't distinguish the enemy! But they are using explosion methods to alarm the citizens on purpose!"

"SHIT! Tonight?! We are being attacked… tonight!?"

"…" Shizune looked down. "Yes…"

"Shit… Send the Anbu! Quickly! I want them exterminated… So they'll learn not to mess with my student's weeding."

"Immediately!"

The door was closed as hurriedly as when opened and the blond woman was left alone. She made a _tsk_ noise and stood up from her chair to look at her city, it seemed that the enemy still hadn't reach that region… but it was only a matter of minutes.

"Damn it… Not there. Not tonight!" She punched the window.

* * *

...

The people screamed and ran in pure chaos. The sky gained a thin layer of red by the flames engulfing the buildings, trees and streets. The smoke hid the stars.

"Look for hurt people!"

_"Sakura-chan!"_

"Naruto, we have to save the people now!"

"Where's Sakura-chan?!"

"I saw her, she's not hurt! Come on!"

"…!" The Uzumaki took a good impulse on his heel and took race.

His eyes scanned the places he passed through and he tried not to breath in the smoke too much. His eyes widened and he stopped running when a cry alarmed his senses. He looked for the source of the sound; it seemed that it was a kid.

"WHERE ARE YOU?!"

"W-whhaa—ahhh! Aah!"

Damn it, where was the enemy?! All he saw was innocent people running and crying! They were surely doing all this purposely, those fucking bastards. He finally perceived the little boy curled up, hidden by the alleyway he was in, and caught up to him.

"Can you stand up?"

He nodded while stuttering. "U-uh-h---"

_PPPPAAMMM!_

"Waaaahh!!!" The poor kid started crying again and covered his ears with his palms, scared by the sound of the explosions.

"Sh… calm down, I'm here." Naruto stretched a hand out. "Come on, let's go to a safer place."

"…" He took the hand and stood up, rubbing an eye.

_Tchik. _He showed the body a kunai. "You know how to use these?"

"M-m-more or less..-"

"Take it, and use it _only_ for self-defense in any case, you hear me?"

"U-uh-huh…"

*-*-*-

The blond shinobi held the boy's hand as he ran and looked for some hint of the enemy.

"Damn it, those bastards!! Don't look back!" He said to the child.

The kid nodded and gripped the kunai he had on his hands tighter.

"Just keep running, keep--"

But… as kids were kids, he got curious when he heard footsteps running right behind them and looked over his shoulder to see who it was.

…

_Boo._

…And regretted doing so.

"Eeeaarh!"

"What are you—"

The frightened boy freed his hand and turned around to throw his kunai.

"HEY! Don—"

_TCHIIN!_The high reverberation of metal hitting metal was heard.

"…"

…

Why did that… sound so quickly?

…

A kid couldn't have such speed at throwing kunais…

…

Which meant...

Whoever was behind them… was_ very close_.

So his breathing hardened and he looked back too.

…

…

To find Uchiha Sasuke.

…

"Sa…_Sasuke?_"

A meter away.

The fire was enlightening and shadowing his face in a sinister way. His head was tilted upward slightly and his black eyes… were scary, threatening. He was gripping his sword in a position which told that he was the one who blocked the weak attack from the child. The blade was exposed.

…And stained.

"…What are you doing here?" Naruto barely asked, too shocked.

"…"

His clothes were stained too. _Blood _on them.

"Answer me!"

The confused little boy looked from Naruto to Sasuke. From Sasuke to Naruto. They knew each other…? _That couldn't be good. _He whined and ran away from the situation as quickly as he could.

"Oe! Don-- woh?!"

The blond had to dodge a fierce slash. He then quickly turned around and saw Sasuke in a fighting position.

"Don't show your back to the enemy, idiot."

"…"

_Enemy._

No…

No, no.. nonono— NO.

"I am going to kill you." He took a step closer.

"I am going to destroy Konoha." _Closer._

"And I'm going to enjoy it."

"_SASUKE—_

"But. I'll leave you to the end. First things first." He halted and placed his long blade above his shoulders, almost in a mockery position.

"_That's… bullshit…"_

"…" He stared at Naruto as if the red boiling chakra sprouting from his body was irrelevant. He closed his eyes. "…Don't bother me now."

"_SHUT UP!" _He showed his claws and run to his ex teammate desperately.

And Sasuke opened his eyes again, revealing his most fearful weapon.

_**Mangekyou Sharingan. Kaleidoscope.**_

"_Wha--?!?"_

"I said.. Don't bother me now."

…

_Thud,_

"Sleep well dobe."

…

…

_Dream now before waking up in hell._

* * *

o////--- **To be continued.**-----

* * *

_..._

_Can you just imagine how hard it was to open my eyes once I started to see black again? T-T _

_I stopped the chapter there because that was the moment where I woke up... snif snifs... It was so fun because I wasn't watching this but reading it XD On my dream, it was a "special edition" of Naruto manga series and I bought it. I started reading and I just want to share the experience of seeing the most beautiful Sasuke I ever saw in my life XDDD IT WAS SO PERFECT. (It was the scene which he first appears --took two pages of the imaginary manga :P And you don't really care XD")_

_And dun worry, next chapter the "lovebirds" will meet._

_Enough said xD_

_Only and only if you wish so, review please._


	2. The white dressed bride

_

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_

Hmmm~

_Hello there. :DD_

_What should I say..? What could I say… rather than thank you so, so much for all the feedback! I swear, I was really surprised and happy when I saw the emails. So you decided to follow my story huh? Thank you… _

_Oooh—ohoho XD… I'm pretty sure I'll disappoint someone in this chap, no groom identity yet (hides) Oh, also, I didn't choose him consciously. (you want to kill me, right? xD 'fucking dream crap', eh?) …Just for you to know before you see (...read-??-) him. –Yeah._

_Raise your hand if you love Kishimoto-san for making this possible! (raise hand) He owns it, huh?_

_I hope you enjoy this chapter as well_

* * *

_..You've become beautiful._

* * *

_o//////--------_

**..Masshiro Bride.**

_----/////o_

* * *

-//ol **Chapter** **two **lo\\-

...

She was Konoha's best nurse. She was the blossom of the Hospital which was about to bloom.

And even so, as she saw people running and trying not to be smashed by a building, she couldn't move. Her hands were sleeping at her sides, immobile. Her green eyes turned into an indecipherable color as the light of the flames reflected on them.

Her groom was unconscious on the ground, next to her. But she _stopped pretending _at that moment and didn't remember to check on him, her mind trying to establish a spot to focus on. If she helped him, she'd be ignoring the people asking for help there. If she helped them, she'd be ignoring him, passed out with blood pouring out of his head. And in the end, she was ignoring both.

_What.._ was this actually happening?

Red. Everything was red and empty.

"_Don't worry, everything will be perfect."_

When she said that… it had sounded so self-comforting and true.

"Sakura!!" Unfortunately, a house's roof fell just when the voice screamed. The pink haired woman didn't move.

"Sakuraaa!!"

She looked behind and saw her blue eyed friend, Ino. She had a desperate expression on her face and tears were falling from her eyes, yet she looked so beautiful with that dress on.. Her beloved bridesmaid. They've passed so much time organizing the clothing…

When the Haruno laid her eyes on her best friend, the first thing that came to her mind was to look at her groom on the ground. She yelped and grabbed him from his shoulders, lifting him from the dust while Ino approached. She slid his arm behind her nape and held him from the waist and from the hand hanging on her shoulder.

"…I-Ino." She bit her lip in order to stop any possible scream or moan that would certainly derive a stream of tears. Ino also did so, she wanted to hug her forehead friend.

"Come on!" The blond screamed loudly. "We have to go to a safer place!"

"No.." The bride shook her head. "I-I…I'll help—"

"N-no! Y-you need to take care of him… and you won't be able to do anything with that dress on!"

"Ino! I _have_ to help! This is Konoha! This is our village!"

"Sakura…" Ino blinked her red eyes quickly a couple of times before continuing. "Listen, you need to be safe so when we beat the enemy you'll be available to heal the injured people!" Her voice was shaking and broking. "A-and now, too."

"…" Sakura looked down and away.

Her silence was a confirmation.

"Come on…"

Yamanaka grabbed the other poor man's arm and they ran away from the decorated, elegant, once clean and crowded Avenue. Sakura looked above her shoulder and her fiancée's arm and watched how the flames engulfed the red carpet, the tall iron candlesticks in line, the benches, and the place where she was moments ago standing at gracefully.

Sakura closed her eyes tightly, deciding that it was best if she didn't open them again until they reached their destination. She could hear screams and shinobis being hurt or killed far away and her throat started burning as she held the crying. Sweat drops started to slide through her neck and onto the cleavage of her dress and it was uncomfortable to run under those conditions. But she just kept running with eyes shut.

"H-here, I think is good." She finally heard Ino's voice.

Her green eyes revealed again and she could see the surroundings. The layer of red hadn't reached that part yet and as they were on a residential area (away from the shinobis). It was still quiet there, although people had gone out of their houses to look at the huge cloud of smoke that had formed on the center of the village with terrified faces. They were at the main park, far from the houses, and the Hokage Tower was situated some meters from there, still safe and in one piece.

"Don't go near the fire, and head for the hospital as soon as you can!" Ino said.

"Wh-what about you?!"

"..Konoha needs InoShikaChou now, doesn't it?" She smiled sadly. "You're the whole prodigy medical nin here." … "Sakura… I'm so sorry about all this…"

When Ino turned her back on her, Sakura panicked. "I-Ino, don't go!!"

But in a second she was gone.

Sakura hugged the man in black and kneeled on the ground with him, burying her face on his shoulder and wetting her face with her tears. Her white dress sprawled around her body and the veil dropped from her head. She closed her eyes and tasted the sour tears that slid inside her lips.

"I-I'm sorry…" She whispered to him.

It was all ruined now.

_Why? Why is this happening?_

_..._

_Did I do something to deserve this?_

_... Did__.. we?_

_---_

"Sakura?"

Her face pulled away from the warm shoulder.

"…"

He couldn't say he wasn't surprised to see her as she was at that moment. Calling her was something that had slipped out from his tongue.

When Sakura turned her head to look at the diretion in which the familiar (painfully familiar) voice had come from, her heart stopped.

Why.. was Uchiha Sasuke there? When Konoha seemed so weak and desperate? The raven haired could easily look down on it now, like he always did, as he emanated a superior air from his position and sword held in a carefree grip. There was no Sharingan or Curse Seal. ..What was he doing there?

It couldn't be that he... Could it?

...No.

That had to be out of the question. ...But she couldn't stop thinking about it.

_He did it. He did it.. He.. did. this._

And she could stop thinking either:

_It's Sasuke-kun, it's Sasuke-kun. He is here, in Konoha. And he is right in front of you._

"..Sa..Sasuke-kun?"

Said traitor stopped his thoughts when he saw the face she made upon seeing him. He parted his lips, but closed his mouth again. He watched her eye him, and then his own eyes met her stare.

"What… are you doing Sasuke-kun?"

A dialogue with Sakura had always been more fragile than the ones with Naruto. Although his words were always harsh in equality.

"…"

She looked beautiful.

Her face relaxed oddly, and she separated from her groom to place him carefully on the ground. "Are you the one.. causing this?"

_It didn't hurt to ask. Because it wasn't true._

Sasuke put a hand into the kunai-carrier, took a weapon from it while swirling it quickly around his finger and held the kunai between them. His face was blank and his eyes were black. Her heart started beating faster. She didn't know him so well, _she didn't. _What did that gesture mean?

_It was true!! --No. It wasn't..!_

He threw it carelessly on the space in front of her kneeling body. He then quickly glanced at the man lying on his next to her feet and looked at her as if she was inferior, in a way that didn't even apply that he was the superior there. Just, despising her with his stare.

"When everything ends and you no longer have a thing, you can use it to kill yourself,"

_It. is true._

_The enemy is Sasuke-kun. The target is Sasuke-kun. He is here, in Konoha. And he is right in front of you._

"..or not. Do what you will." He said as if it didn't matter at all.

His voice alone could beat the crap out of her.

Tears starting to fall massively from her face to her lap, and her bottom lip started to tremble. Sasuke narrowed his eyes dangerously. He looked one more time at the groom and glared.

His body turned around, but as soon as, she stood up with her head down and the kunai on her shaking hand.

"…"

"…"

There was a putrid aura between the ex-teammates.

Sakura lifted her chin. At the same time, Sasuke looked over his shoulder, the Sharingan was showing its teeth at her. He spoke before her.

"…If I see you again, you'll regret it."

"_Why!!" _Sakura tried to attack him.

But he was already gone.

Sakura panicked when the Uchiha disappeared. "NO! No!! Don't run away… _Don't escape this! Sasuke!!!"_

How could he...

"_Sasuke!!"_

How could he?!

_"Whyy?!"_

And from further that point, Sasuke-kun was _dead._

And Sakura couldn't believe it.

...

*-*-*-

"I found a body!"

"Is he dead?!"

"No, actually he practically intact, looks like he's been healed. But he's unconscious!"

The other man bent next to the body. "Quickly, let's..—?What is it?"

"…No, nothing." The shinobi said while ignoring the pair of white heels on the floor.

* * *

...

He was smirking so insanely. He was failing himself, the plan. No deaths until now. He slashed, cut, pierced, kicked, but not killed.

Still… _He never felt so alive._

The red on his iris was spinning slowly around his pupil in different scales, mixing them. He wanted more. The first explosion near the residential area was heard, and the poor innocent people started to scream desperately. Soon the fire would be taking over the houses too, he grinned.

Nothing else mattered anymore. While his partners continued to destroy the city, he would kill the elders, the Hokage, ..Naruto and Kakashi—

"_Sasuke_!"

-and Sakura.

The raven haired halted his body with the tip of his toes.

"…"

He could hear her panting. "Don't take any step further! You'll have to fight me first!"

The Uchiha didn't say a word. _"Fight me!" _She repeated.

She didn't want to be ignored like this.

Tonight was her night.

She would.. shine like the moon tonight..

And painfully -_ironically_- enough, the person who she would have liked the most to watch her tonight was ignoring her like this.

"How curious."

And crushing her.

"…" She narrowed her puffed eyes, cautious with his next words. After all, they were always what hurt the most.

"Isn't this the same place where we used to meet?"

They were on the red bridge. Team seven's bridge. As she had expected, it hurt.

"I wonder… what would happen if I burn it?"

"H-how dare you… Don't _talk_ anymore! Fight me!!"

"I have things to do."

"Turn around!"

"…"

"I won't let you ruin my wedding, my village!, and run away!!" She pointed a weapon at him. "You don't know who I am now! I'll use this kunai to _fight__ you_!"

He turned around and she almost jumped. Sakura quickly noticed his gloved hand lazily resting above his eyes, covering them. Was he making fun of her? She could feel anger with that thought, even knowing that Uchiha Sasuke was in position to mock whoever he wanted to, he was _strong._ But then he slid three fingers down.

And he glared at her in between his fingers with one eye.

She was still there.

Produced.

Beautiful.

Ready for her groom.

White dressed.

And he was still there too.

Cursing his feet for being planted there.

Suddenly feeling guilty about all this, just because of _her._

"I told you… you'd regret it."

* * *

...

"Daaaamn, this is getting boring! I want to fight the strong bosses here! Is this all Konoha has?"

"Shut up.. I can only see that you're pretty beaten up, they kicked your ass!"

"Oh _please._ You call these little scratches a kick in the ass?"

"I'm carrying your body!" The woman bounced his arm on her shoulder. "_And _you're drenching my beautiful hair with your stinky blood!"

"You need that; the red of my blood is ten times more beautiful than your horrible hair color, honestly!"

"Wh-what did you say?! I'll throw you on that river!"

"You wanted to carry me, _sweetheart_. ("B-because you were bothering us!!") Now deal with it."

The orange haired shook his head, they were already arguing like silly teenagers. They were all injured, but Suigetsu, being the stubborn child he was, had more serious wounds and was almost hobbling.

"Juugo cover me up and take this useless idiot! I have to—Oh!" The redhead sensed familiar chakra and turned around before the Uchiha appeared.

He was jumping from one roof to another carrying something white and inflated. The three Taka members looked at each other before following him, which was strange because the planned direction wasn't the one he was taking. And they had _the _special plan to follow, the stubborn Uchiha was the one who had reminded them each five minutes to stick with it. What the hell, now.

"Sasuke-san." Juugo said as soon as he caught up with their leader. "I'm glad you aren't hurt."

"Hn. Speed up, they are following us."

Juugo looked above his shoulder and saw Konoha shinobis a bit far.

"Sasuke!" Karin happily exclaimed, but then she figured out what he had above his shoulder and didn't hide her shock. "…?"

"Hey man, I knew you wanted to rebuild your clan soon but I didn't know you were so desperate!" Suigetsu laughed at his own joke. "You kidnapped a freaking bride? You like the virgin ones!"

"_Shut_ up." Suigetsu was lucky that Sasuke was now concerned with other things.

"S-Sasuke? Mind to explain?" Karin frowned. The Uchiha glanced at her coldly.

"Oe, weren't you heading for the Hokage Tower or something like that?"

"We have a change of plans." Sasuke only said after jumping to another roof.

"Whaaat?" Both loudmouths were agape.

"But we revised the plan thousands of times and it was perfect!"

"Argh… what the fuck Sasukeee."

Sasuke halted, which made the whole team halt too. Suigetsu separated from Karin and nodded at her. Their leader, however, turned around and they almost yelped.

"_Stop making comments." _It was written on his face.

"Oh, we're in a bad mood today. I wouldn't be with that hot chick on my sh—"

"Shark-face, shut up." Karin almost stammered; Sasuke's chakra was starting to come out and _the_ plan consisted in hiding it (aside from the leader's beloved Sharingan that had learned how to camouflage perfectly). Ow.. 'Bad day' today, she hated those. When the Uchiha closed his eyes, however, it hid again.

"Karin. I need you."

_"Hn! As always!" _"...What for?" She raised an eyebrow.

* * *

_..._

_..._

_...are... her... she's no use..._

_..he... needs.. urges... I would... too!_

_You.. me to kill you._

_Calm down, people._

_---_

Sakura opened her eyes.

The first thing her eyes could possibly distinguish was the sky; beautiful, clean, starry sky. She then looked to her left and saw a neck.. pale, smooth, and a slightly parted mouth with some dark locks swinging near its sides. Her eyelids dropped lightly as she relaxed. It seemed that he noticed that she had woken up, because he looked at her.

_Sa..suke-kun._

She hugged his neck.

"..."

"..."

"..."

"...Eh."

_What the fuck get the hell off of him you bi- _"Now you hypnotized her too?"

"..." There was still shock on Sasuke's face.

"Ahaha! I think it was _all _on the contrary!"

"..She's pretty, Sasuke-san."

...

**Sasuke-san.**

The leader. The murderer. _The traitor._

The one who killed Sasuke-kun.

The one who... who--

"Eeeeaaarhh!!!" Sakura started to struggle in Sasuke's arms. "LET ME GO!!"

"Sak--"

BOF!

"...Is she okay on the head?" Juugo blinked.

Sasuke literally _threw _Sakura to the ground as he shelled his bleeding nose. _Fuck._ That was one punch.

"You-!! How dare you?!" Karin joined her fists (_ohshitohshitohs--) _and looked from Sakura on the ground -glaring at Sasuke- to Sasuke, with one hand covering his nose -glaring at Sakura.

"Who.. _are _you?" She broke the glare contest to look at the three strangers.

"Wh-wha?" Was she still alive after that?! "…We are his team!" Karin pointed to herself with her thumb, drawing her chest.

"..." The way Sakura was looking at Karin after said woman informed her that annoyed her like hell, who did she think she was? "...Is.. that so?" The green eyed girl said while she stood up from the ground and turned her back on the team. Her once clean and well treated feet could feel the moist and sticky mud beneath them and the cold caressed her shoulders again with the lack of human contact.

"..What are you doing?" Sasuke threateningly asked. As his hand passed through his nose, the bleeding wasn't there anymore.

"What do you think I'm doing? Can't you see how I am now?!" She was obviously pointing out the way she was dressed. "I'm leaving, you don't need me." She murmured over her shoulder. Once she was looking ahead again, however, she didn't move.

"...You've failed Sasuke."

..

All because of you.

...All. because. of _you._

..

And Karin felt it. Felt _that chakra._

The Haruno prepared to escape the fastest she could, not caring if no one beat Sasuke when it came to speed.

_Bad choice, Sakura._

And the single moment -that one second that it took for Sakura to move her leg only one centimeter- was the last thing she could remember before feeling a sharp pain on her head, before seeing darkness.

Before her life was completely changed.

* * *

****--To be continued. ----//o ...**

* * *

_Oh.. this is my salvation I think. I've been so sad and antisocial this whole month. I don't know what the hell is wrong with me, is it the hormones? xD" I hope so. Well, but I guess everyone passes through this too... eh, right?_

_(Completely useless A/N: Oooh yeaaahh! That's what I'm talking about! Have you seen Sasuke on this new Shippu chap 'Clash'? Now **that **is Sasuke-kun! Sexy and strong s2 ..and sexy XD) _

_One more time, thank you for the feedback. I blushed like a lady. __Will you review today, too? I'll be glad if you do so. _

_Review only if! you wish, please_


	3. The secret place

_H__eee-lloo there!_

_:D thankyousomuchforthefeedback! –deep breath-_

_I've just decided. M__y archenemy: the prepositions. Ugh! I hate those mono/disyllabic little words! I think they're my nightmare when it comes to writing XD What else... oh yes! T__he whole.. groom thing /o/ It's kind of earlier than I thought, but I've decided to give in. Read and you'll find out. But I ask patience please s2. _

_Oookay then! On __with the story!_

_I don't own any of these characters. Ow.._

* * *

_If the priest carried on with our celebration… _"_Speak now or forever keep your silence." He would say._

_It feels like… you've broken down the church's main door and shouted._

_How silly. But how charming that would be. __And perhaps you'd win my heart with just that._

_But then again, that's just my imagination._

* * *

----///o

**Masshiro Bride.**

o\\\------------

-//ol **Chapter Three **lo\\-

…

The sun was finally pushed up and tanned the sky. The shadows intensified under the beautiful contrast of orange and every surface facing the magnificent sunset was strongly enlightened and warmed up. It was a cold daybreak however. Traces of smoke still remained, hanging on the air of the sky that soon was starting to gain its light blue color again. Under the whole astonishing scenery, the tiny Konoha citizens and shinobis worked on rebuilding their village.

_Slam!_

"What do you mean you've lost their sight?!"

It infuriated her. Really. Several long and complete hours tapping her foot on the shinning floor anxiously and rubbing her teeth while waiting for what? For a useless man with a too-good-for-him-Anbu-mask to stand before the (_waiting!_) Hokage and tell her _this. _Under her furious frown, there were angry light brown eyes carrying heavy bags.

"The Anbu who saw Uchiha Sasuke said he was too fast to be caught." The man maintained his low voice and was bent down on the floor politely, with one arm crossing his belly

"Oh is that so?"

That surprised tone… they knew what—

**S****LAM!**

--followed it.

"I don't care if he was too fast or not! Why the hell do you think you have elite ranking?!"

"Tsunade-sama, please be aware that I wasn't involved with Uchiha's pers—"

"Silence!"

The Anbu's lid dropped one inch behind the mask and sweat dropped, that Hokage had a nerve. "We can send—"

"Who's in charge of making decisions here?!"

"…"

"Tsunade-sama… what are we going to do now? …The elders want Uchiha Sasuke punished no matter what." Her loyal assistant Shizune murmured behind the governor.

Tsunade bit a red polished fingernail. "…Tch, shit! I don't think I can go against this. … Even if there were very few deaths, they burned more than half of the village down." She frowned, too irritated to possibly think about something. She needed sake. "…Ill send the orders to start searching."

"..What about Naruto and Sakura?"

"We'll search them for now. There'll be no killing orders; I want them captured- that's all. I don't think those two stubborn kids have objections against that."

Shizune nodded at that and wrote down some notes on her clipboard.

"Also.. go check how Yamato is doing with the reconstruction of the houses. Tell me if he needs any help or something."

"Hai, Tsunade-sama!" She quickly exited the office.

"And.. what else..." Tsunade pinched her temple and thought about the situation until she heard a light cough. "Oh, Nara."

The man against the wall, who up till the moment was only wondering if it was allowed to smoke inside the Hokage Tower or not, unglued from the cold surface and stepped closer. "I was really starting to wonder if you had really called me or if it was the secretary's mistake." He bowed shortly.

"Oh, yes forgive me.. I've heard that you were in the building so I wanted to talk with you." The blond said while scratching an eyebrow nervously. "Although I'm a bit busy with all this issue as you can see."

"It's understandable."

"…How is Sakura?"

"…" He closed his eyes. "I haven't talked to her yet. No one actually did, Naruto's still sleeping, Kakashi is helping Yamato and Ino is a bit depressed herself."

"And he?"

Shikamaru smirked. "At the hospital, but indestructible as always."

She smiled uncertain, not fully convinced, but satisfied anyway. "Very well, then. You can go, thank you."

He bowed. "Hai."

* * *

...

"_What are going to do now?"_

"_We'll recover."_

"_Ow man… that's bullshit."_

"_No it's not! Look at yourself! You look like shit! Sasuke's right! ..We'll have to work on another plan."_

"_Tch."_

"_If you just want to pick up a fight, you can damn well go to some alley and do so!"_

Sakura didn't open her eyes the minute her consciousness was back again. As a trained kunoichi, she was immediately alerted to her surroundings. It was a quiet place. Too quiet. The air wasn't moist and there wasn't any smell of mold, a clean space. And surely it was day again as small and singing birds made noise outside. That fact itself confused her, where was she?

The Haruno was trying to calm her heart beats down as she remembered everything that had happened before someone hit her on the nape. The unfamiliar voices coming from another room weren't helping her. She was lying down on something smooth and soft, it intrigued her.

A bed.

Her elongated lashes lifted so slowly that they trembled while doing so. She could see her own hand lazily resting beside her head. Her ring finger twitched quickly and she made a fist.

Should she move? Should she wait?

When the door opened, she made up her mind: _wait._ Her hand loosened again and her lids dropped. The door was closed but she could still feel the other presence inside the room. And unfortunately she knew who it was.

Wait.

wait...

_wait.._

"Stop faking it."

_..._

Hearing his voice, his breathing, hearing his plain _presence, _made she wonder how this was happening, if this was real. Plenty had been the times when Sakura had imagined those possible situations in which they would finally meet again.. after so many years. And she would imagine how looking at his eyes, how feeling that odd sensation of realizing that they would be standing above the same soil, how breathing the same air as him or wondering how was the image she would be producing on him... felt.

Yet none of those imaginary (and silly, now she remembers) situations got close to this... And painfully enough, _this_ was the thick and tense air she was sharing with him, _those _were the insane, cold, black eyes which were looking at her, and _that _was the horrible, disgusting and crushing sensation she felt of being inside the same place as him, standing above the s_ame _soil... and away from everything she wanted. Captured.

And she was... she was the innocent Sakura who believed in fate. Living life in the impression of being a puppet under fate's hands. Now she found herself denying it strongly as it showed her this cruel reality. How much hate and loneliness have filled his heart? How far would the man she used to love reach, now taking her as a hostage? Were all those years really in vain? Everything they made until now... did it have sense? She found the years being separated from him longer and more memorable than the ones when team seven was a family. It crushed her. Konoha, Sasuke.

"..Sasuke...?" She barely whispered.

He narrowed his eyes. Her chakra was--

_Tuc__k_.

The tip of a kunai pierced the wooden wall next to the raven's head; he had dodged it by moving his neck to the side without agitation.

"What the fuck!" The pinkette screamed angrily.

"..." The silence was tortuous. "Shut up, Sakura."

"Shut up. _Shut up?_" She had an angry smile on her face. "Are you kidding me?! You expect me to shut up when you burned our, _our_, village and... kidnapped me?! What the fuck Sasuke!"

"Sakura. If you don't shut your mouth I'll tie you up and cover your mouth."

It could be difficult not to blush when Sasuke said those words, but Sakura easily managed. "..." Her mouth closed but her expression was still showing her obvious irritation.

"Listen to me instead." He was frowning as if he didn't understand the situation either. --which, _indeed. _"You'll stay here -- _let _me finish- ... and _obey_. I'll let you go out, but you won't be able to escape -so don't try it."

"Why are you doing this?" She asked after a sharp breath.

"I don't need to tell you that."

"THAT'S—"

"_Drop..._" He lifted a hand and closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. "-it. You'll stay here as I say. And that's it."

"…"

The Uchiha ignored the face Sakura was giving him and proceeded to take the kunai out of the wall and throw it back to the pink haired. She grabbed it, still glaring at him.

"Now stop looking at me like that and change."

Sakura looked at the foot of the bed and saw some clothes there. She then turned her face to Sasuke.

"No."

And Sasuke only looked blankly at her.

"I'm not changing."

"Don't start—"

"At least give me the rights to be dressed as I please!!" She breathed hard. "Since you've got me freaking kidnapped for no reason! On my wedding day!!"

_Did she have to remind him that again and again? _He thought while activating his angry but harmless Sharingan.

..She wasn't doing that. He was.

"Although, you know. I don't really need to be dressed like the woman of my groom." She breathed in, full of herself and at the same time not knowing who she was talking to, him or herself. "I am married, no matter how much you interrupted my ceremony."

He ignored her earlier words. "No… reason, you say? Do you know how much trouble you've caused me? Sakura?" He looked angry, in his cool but scary way.

"What are you saying?! I wish I had stoppe—

But then she blinked while frowning, confused. ..Why weren't they in Konoha? Did it mean that they were indeed stopped but escaped? What he said next, however, distracted her from those thoughts.

"I don't care if it was your wedding day. I _don't._ Neither do I care about what you think about us."

"…"

What else could she say? She knew it was true. The Sharingan was looking right through her and the heart beats sped up.

"…Were you planning..?" Her voice died, but she gulped her fear down. "Were you planning to kill people? …back then?"

Once more, Sasuke narrowed his eyes. When he did so, the commas on his eyes spun one time around his pupil and stood still again.

"..Were you planning.. to kill me?" She whispered. "Kakashi? ...Naru..to?"

"Are you going to throw things at me again if I tell you? I don't have time for this."

"…" She lowered her head. "…Why? Sasuke…"

He left the room and didn't bother to close the door, leaving it semi-opened. Act that -from Sakura's view- showed the total confidence the bastard always had, what surely maintained that damned chicken-ass hair of his up.

Cruel person.

"…damn you!" If anger and might, she threw the shinobi weapon again.

_TUCK__!_

Her green eyes watched how the sunlight hit the blade of the kunai on the wall and made it shine brightly, indicating that it was very well sharp. She wanted to break something, wanted that someone yelled at her so she could yell back and louder, wanted to spread wings and shield inside them. So she stayed on the bed, not knowing what to do but keeping her hands pressed against the mattress. The minutes passed, and she now and then looked at the place where she last saw Sasuke; the voices had stopped.

Sakura approached the door, carefully, quietly. Her chin was tilted and her eyes alert. Her bare feet touched the floor between tiptoes, and her hands were gripping her large skirt so it wouldn't make noise either. She knew the opened door was possibly an invitation to a trap, but even though, it was a tempting invitation. Getting out of that place was no doubt the first thing to do now.

The tip of her left toes tapped the floor of the hallway a couple of times before she fully stood above it. Her face maintained its suspicious look, and she lifted her chin to look around.

"…!!" Sakura almost yelped.

The end of the hallway faced the dinning room, where the _entire _team was sitting and having a reunion. To her horror, the four members were looking at her, and surely they had watched her since she stepped out of the leader's room.

"…" She glared at them and tensed her shoulders. Sadly, it was the only thing to do that occurred to her.

They continued to look at the papers all sprawled through the wooden surface of the table and the pink haired couldn't help feeling _slightly _insulted. She was their hostage, wasn't she? She was supposed to be inside a locked place... but then she mentally shook her head, it was not the time to think such stupid things.

"We can't use the same method twice." The man with white hair said.

As they kept murmuring things, the captured bride slowly made her way to where they were sitting. She watched how the only woman looked at her unfriendly and then continued to pay attention to the speaker. Sakura, then, passed by them and while doing so she made sure that her back wouldn't face the interesting table or any of those four, so she encircled the table.

The Haruno was confused once the hand behind her back touched the knob of the front door. Her slender fingers clumsily wrapped around it and she twisted it. Opened. ..Was all this a genjutsu? She wondered while the door moved behind her, but she didn't unglue her eyes from the concentrated team. ..No, if it were a genjutsu, it would have probably ended there. And Sasuke wouldn't simply waste his chakra to trick her, and less if he had been battling in Konoha.

Her body jumped when she stepped on the cold, cold grass of the ground, and she shivered lightly, it was so cold outside. But it was _outside_. One pink and delicate eyebrow raised and she didn't understand anymore. She took some more steps backwards, and seeing that the people inside the house were so focused on what they were discussing about made a little voice inside her head scream that she ought to listen to what they were saying, that it was probably about Konoha.

... She wouldn't stay there any longer.

Sakura spun around quickly and as soon as she turned her back to the hideout, she ran as fast as her legs –and dress- allowed her to. And then she was _really _confused when she saw trees, birds, green, green and green. It was a _forest_, one of the plenty that existed, but the house—that old, abandoned-looking house where they were hiding— had an ample space for itself, so she found herself heading towards a labyrinth of several trees and shades.

"_What's going on?" _She thought.

Inside the house and dinning room, Sasuke raised an eyebrow but his eyes were closed and serene.

"..Juugo."

"Hahah.." Suigetsu was already laughing.

Juugo looked outside and snapped his fingers.

…

"…?"

She saw a bird flying toward her.

"…?!"

And it was followed by a huge group of many other birds. The pink haired crossed her arms in front of her face to shield from the flapping and the peaks. When she opened one eye, she would have sworn that the ends of her hair had lifted up for what it was in front of her was a huge centipede.

…

…

_"Noo!!! Go away!!!"_

Suigetsu grinned widely. "She sure has lungs to shout like that huh? Looks like someone knows your name…" He couldn't help saying while they heard some curses being directed to the raven haired sitting by the head of the table. "Hahah! That was so fun!"

"…Hn."

*-*-*-

"Owf!"

Was the sound that escaped her mouth when she was rudely thrown to the couch, her skirt sprawling all over it.

Sasuke was looking down on her. She noticed how his chin was lightly tilted up and it angered her more.

"Didn't I tell you that you wouldn't be able to escape?"

"…"

"If you obey I'll ask Suigetsu to take a walk with you."

"I'm not a _puppy_." She said while forcing her trembling fists down to the soft surface. She wanted to rip the Uchiha in half with her glare.

"…" His blank stare frustrated her. "Then use these." He threw a pair of slippers to the floor in front of her. "To cover your bare feet."

"…"

He seemed to have ignored her angry face once more as he looked at the clock that set up in the kitchen's wall. "Juugo, Karin. We have to go."

"Yes." Both answered at the same time from the table where they had been talking moments ago.

In a quick swish, they were gone. And it remained a heavy silence,

_Why.. why do they leave me here alone again? Why.. such self-confidence? Am I so.. weak?--_

Until Sakura heard the toilet flushing somewhere.

"Ahhr.. Eh? They're gone already?" Suigetsu asked while appearing on the living room while scratching his head with a hand that hadn't been washed. "..Am I here alone with the princess?"

"…"

"..Eh, don't worry. They just went to do the monthly purchases."

"…"

She was there, sitting on the couch in a tense position, with her back arched and her fists tight against her knees. Her weird pink hair was covering her face and her chin was down. Suigetsu's mouth dropped until it almost touched his chin. Now what?

"..Hey, why haven't you chan—Woah!"

She passed by him running fast and hit his arm with her elbow.

"O-ouch?!" Was that strength? "Hey!" He turned around and could just catch a hint of pink locks entering Sasuke's room.

_Slam!_

"…" And there he was alone again in the cold living room. "..I knew it. Any Sasuke's acquaintance has to be weird."

* * *

...

Standing there, the blond shinobi felt less miserable. This neighborhood hadn't been touched by the flames of the other night, so there were no burnt down houses and scalded trees. When Naruto had woken up on a hospital bed that afternoon, he couldn't help feeling all the blame weighing on his back. He had been right in front of the enemy and yet unable to do something other than being lamely defeated in less than a minute.

He could still remember, and feel… the face of the ex team seven's member. All the hate and sorrow inside such small yet threatening eyes. What happened to him? Why did he want Konoha's disgrace?! His teeth clenched tightly. The first thing he did after being sent out from the Hospital was to look for Sakura.

His reddish knuckles lightly hit the wooden door of a pink house, knocking.

"Sakura-chan?"

…

He tried again. "Open up, it's me." His voice transmitted his concern.

…

…Naruto frowned. He gathered air to his lungs and sighed loudly, silencing it with an annoyed pout. Maybe she's gone to the Hosp—

The door opened.

"…Naruto?"

She looked like hell.

"Sakura-chan…" And suddenly he didn't know what to say anymore. "..um,"

She blinked, not in a cute way.

"D'you wanna go for some ramen?" He grinned widely and placed his hands behind his nape. Ramen was like a drug to team seven, it made them forget everything and feel great about it.

She smiled but shook her head slowly. "Thanks, but I'll pass." She opened the door a little wider and clasped her hands lightly on its edge, leaning her body against her left hip.

They stood in silence. The birds then took the chance to chirp since the silence took over the neighborhood; a huge and thick cloud covered the sun for a minute, shadowing everything so lightly in grey shades. When it finished passing by, Naruto noticed that there were some tears contouring Sakura's green eyes as the sunlight slowly illuminated her face again.

"…Sakura-chan." The Uzumaki's face was serene. "You do know who—"

"..Do you want to come in?" She friendly invited. "I have some tea prepared."

Naruto's hands slowly dropped from his nape and he looked firmly at her before nodding. "…okay."

And he stepped into the house he had thought he'd never have to enter again.

*-*-*-

"Isn't Yamato-san exhausted by now?" Sakura said while serving tea for the tenth time now. "I can still hear the sound of wood from here, he hasn't stopped since morning."

"Oh, yeah, he's amazing." Naruto grinned and took the cup made of ceramic. "Everyone's making a huge effort."

"…" The pinkette looked away. "Tsunade didn't let me help." She said with that annoyed tone of hers. "She said that I needed to rest today, I feel really useless now."

"Hmm.. it's true."

"…"

"..T-that you need to rest! You're not _useless _Sakura-chan. I heard you saved a lot of people during the incident!" He explained.

"..Still."

"Baa-chan told me the same, that I needed to rest! Yet she's always asking for our help when possible."

"..So she talked to you too."

"…" He looked away. "Yeah."

They already knew of the persecution of Sasuke's team.

"..And you won't rest at all." She continued, however.

Naruto smiled and his face sympathetically resembled a fox. "Of course I'll help everyone."

They laughed lowly.

"And how is Lee?"

"…" Sakura rested her chin on her hand and bit her pinky lightly. ". ..It's weird, I thought he would be able to regain consciousness by today." And then she frowned sadly. "I'm going to visit him again, later."

"…Sakura-chan.." Naruto's voice came out hoarsely. "I'm sorry…"

"..Please don't say it. You don't have anything to do with—"

"I saw him."

And he miserably watched how her green eyes widened and how her small jaw fell lightly and he tightened his fist.

"I.. saw him." He repeated. "I could have.. stopped him." Naruto closed his eyes and lowered his head. "But.. I just fell. It was the only thing I've done. Lose myself and fall."

He opened his mouth, but closed it again as she didn't say anything to retort what he had said.

"I-I'm sorry."

"..It wasn't your fault.. Naruto."

The blond lifted his chin to look at her when he heard a sob. Her hand was now covering her eyes.

"It.. was meant to be like that."

"…" He stood up and sat next to his sobbing friend on the other couch. Naruto gripped her arms caringly and she hugged him. "Sakura-chan… be strong.." He returned the embrace tightly. "Everyone's safe.. okay? We'll overcome this together.."

She opened her mouth to let some screams out. "Why did it turn like this?!"

He muffled her cry, but what she said next crippled his heart.

"_Sasukeee!"_

Naruto continued to hold her until the sun swapped back to the horizon on her window.

* * *

...

"I'll proceed with the plan now."

Suigetsu nodded, but then pouted. "Are you sure you wanna go by yourself?"

"..Aa."

The white haired man who was inside the house glanced above the raven's shoulder and his eyes just spotted darkness and trees. The Uchiha was standing one step outside the house's front door; his face was enlightened by the lights coming from inside the simple hideout and his back was covered by his own shadow.

"Let me guess. You want us to babysit the princess."

"…" He paused for a moment there. "Just don't let her do something extravagant." The 'shark-face' lightly shook his head at that, who understood that guy?

"Y'know, I think you've seriously broke the lady's little heart. Kidnapping a person during her wedding, man that's cold. Is night already and she hasn't gone out of your room yet."

"…" He wanted to shove something uncomfortably_ big _inside that mouth with irregular teeth.

And he couldn't say it. He could open his mouth, could think about the words, prepare his tongue, yet not say it.

_I'll take her with me._

Once the door was closed, his whole body was covered by the darkness of the night and the moon made sure that he wasn't fully engulfed by it. Sasuke turned around.

"…It's getting cold."

…

The Uchiha got closer to the depths of the forest, his Sharingan shone when the strong moonlight stopped enveloping his face. He did that quick trick he had learned of swirling the tomoes and continued to advance.

After one hour of walking, the cold had made his large and slim hands sleep on his sides and freeze, so it took a couple of more slow steps for the raven to finally take his arms from the cape that was covering his shoulders and body to curve his large and pale fingers around the hood. With a quick nod of his wrists, the hood covered his head and reached the tip of his nose, leaving his mouth with parted purple lips bare.

His strange chakra that could be seen as an odd mixture of dark blue, red and purple retracted to his body, sliding slowly like a snake crawling to its cave and hiding. His chin lifted, and he could see the lights of Konohagakure.

"…"

With only one jump, he landed on a tree branch, so quietly and lightly that one couldn't tell if he used strength to jump so high or not. The night was his accomplice, hiding him between the leaves and matching with his eyes, hair and cape perfectly. From that angle, he could see the bamboo and wooden-made fortress of Konoha and the few houses that were near the entrance.

There were guards on the main gate. Four, down and planted on the floor, and three high above, inside little chambers of the towers that connected to the big wall that protected the currently recovering village. He was sure there were more.

Sasuke moved away from the entrance –ever so quietly and professionally well hidden- and ran, rounding the wall for some minutes until he jumped to the surface of the thick wall, silent as a cat. His red eyes narrowed as he saw the village just a few meters away from him. Something was wrong, that was too easy.

Space and time became black and every outline of chakra and solidity was traced by phosphorescent light, the view provided by his Sharingan. He scanned the houses, saw families happily having dinner; scanned the old trees which were full of healthy chakra; scanned the burnt houses, and the insects.

One in particular.

A tiny bug slowly approached him, flapping its wing so quickly that he could only see a blur of light. But even as the insect had been flying so excitedly until the moment, it froze when tried to cross the fortress and fell somewhere, electrocuted and dead. Before it landed on the ground, the Uchiha was already looking straight, with his eyes black once again.

"A... barrier."

**Ch-ch-ch-chchchchc**

Maybe his chidori was stronger than a bug.

**Cchhhiiiiiiiiiiuuuuuuuu!!!—**

*-*-*-

_Cling! _A needle hit the metallic surface of a medicine tray and sounded sharply.

"They have an entire… fortress there."

"…Caught?"

"…"

Karin simply rolled her eyes as the Uchiha continued to grossly "heal" his wounds. God, even her who was accustomed to those things had to turn her head away, didn't it _hurt_? And couldn't he be a little neater while cleaning his wounds? There was blood everywhere! It was a bit disgusting (and sexy, sure), but of course he didn't care about _her _comfort and continued to stain everything.

"You know, Sasuke-_kun_, it's a bit rude for a gentleman to do this in front of a woman."

"Go somewhere else."

"Ugh.."

Men.

"Um, Karin, Sasuke."

The redheaded raised her chin from the hand resting on the armrest of the hard couch and looked at Juugo, who was wiping his hands.

"Come on." He simply said.

Sasuke silently stood up from the other couch while slipping his sleeves up again and left the metallic tray with red –once white- small towels, needles and other first-aid elements there. The corner of Karin's mouth curved downwards as she looked at the mess.

Suigetsu appeared with a happy face and humming and blinked when saw his leader passing by him. He then grinned.

"Hey Sasuke! How—"

The raven simply showed him the several cuts and wounds that promised permanent scars on his arm and looked at him.

"…Oh. Man.." Still, he grinned. "Well, we're even now!" And he showed his injured arm too.

Karin rolled her eyes. _Men…_

"We'll talk about this later. Suigetsu… call her."

"Piece of cake!" He tried to say in English.

* * *

"Do you want to enter there alone?"

"..Can I?"

"Of course." Naruto smiled. "I'll be seeing Kakashi meanwhile, it's already night and I haven't seen him."

Sakura nodded and smiled too.

"Ja."

"Un."

When the pink haired entered, she placed her coat on a chair and sat on it. She inspected the man lying on the hospital bed and tried to clear her thoughts.

It was so difficult.

That woman had such a twisted mind. Between smiles, cries, feelings, pains, memories. It sounded like any person's head. But so much twisted.

"…"

The pinkette sighed and opened a book, now and then looking at his face calmly.

* * *

...

She was so angry.

No, angry was short. She was _furious_.

Who the fuck did they think they were? What the hell were human rights for?!

As she continued to hear the chopsticks touching the bottom of each bowl, her rage increased.

They were… having dinner.

And she had been forced to be watching them doing so.

The redhead looked a bit annoyed, but was eating silently. She was receiving smug smirks from the shark teethed man, and the orange haired big man on her side was acting as if she wasn't that at all, simply eating. And of course she didn't even want to see how Sasuke_-san_ was; she didn't feel like seeing his face at the moment.

"You should eat something, you're awfully skinny." The shark teethed pointed at her with his chopsticks and talked with his mouth full.

Sakura simply moved her bowl one centimeter away with the tip of her left hand's fingers.

Karin tapped the table with the tip of her chopsticks and raised one eyebrow. "Juugo spent a great deal of time cooking this, y'know girl?"

Sakura glared. "You dare to speak to me like that? I've spent the whole day preparing myself for my wedding and I don't see any of you apologizing."

"OE. You wait one minute there, pinky!" Karin adjusted her glasses, already frustrated. "That wasn't part of—"

"_Karin_."

"…"

"It's okay, really."

Sakura looked at her side; the orange haired man was looking down to his food. "It wasn't any sacrifice to cook this. If she doesn't want to eat it's fine."

Suigetsu chuckled and took a huge bite from the beef. "Keep your mouth shut woman, no one asked for your opinion."

Karin dropped her hand holding the chopsticks. "What the hell did you say?"

He grinned; ow, mad already. "Are you deaf now?"

Sakura sighed disinterested, was that really Sasuke's new team? Were they the ones who burned Konoha down? Thinking about that made the emptiness in her stomach turn into an awful wish to vomit. Her throat closed and she didn't want to stay there anymore. Because.. and just because she was an educated woman, she didn't slap her bowl to the floor.

She stood from her chair and withdrew from the area to enter into the only door she knew that had a bedroom on the other side. Of course, it resulted to be Sasuke's room for her happiness.

The pair who had been arguing like no tomorrow shut up and the dark dinning room quieted. Juugo then took Sakura's bowl and dragged it to his front. He took his chopsticks and began to eat it without saying a word.

Karin looked at Sasuke, he seemed thoughtful about something. Better not, but perhaps he was thinking about the girl…

"We'll have to wait for the next attack." The raven interrupted her thoughts and she was then sure, it hadn't been the pink haired girl but that.

"You've had that much of a bad luck?" Suigetsu leaned against the chair again.

"They have some sort of barrier.. protecting the open air," Sasuke leaned forward and placed his chin above his intertwined fingers. "Chidori didn't work." He narrowed his eyes. "And they came to attack me almost instantly."

"I was expecting something like that." Karin said while pulling some red locks above her shoulder. "We're dealing with Konoha here, there were a lot of strong chakras inside the village."

"Sasuke-san…"

They all turned their heads to Juugo, who had just finished his second bowl.

"..May I ask, again, why you've brought the young girl with us?"

And then they turned to their leader again.

"…" He closed his eyes. "I thought that I've made that clear."

"You just said 'it's none of your business' and changed the topic." The white haired lifted his index finger discreetly.

"Is she of any use?" Juugo insisted.

"Yeah, I want to know that too!" And Karin protested.

It was amazing how Taka team knew their leader well enough to know that he wouldn't be mad with that questionnaire because today he was cool.

Sasuke's brow twitched quickly and he opened his eyes, annoyed. "..She's my hostage. It_ is_ none of your business." He stood up tiredly. "We'll have to wait some time until the next attack.. They must be waiting for us to make a move soon." And walked away.

...

It was purely hilarious –from Suigetsu's point of view, _of course-_ to see the Uchiha boy being unable to enter his own room, that oh-so-beloved room of his where he spent the whole afternoons and evenings, because of the obviously furious lady inside it. First he walked to the hallway and stopped in front of his room, pausing as if considering to whether entering in or not, then he lifted one hand and almost touched the knob, but his hand froze in place when a loud grunt was heard from the other side of the door. Suigetsu bit his tongue; too good to watch!

_Tssss---_

"…Did you say something, Suigetsu?" Sasuke's deep voice sounded disturbed.

Karin slapped one palm on her forehead lightly, stupid shark-face.

"Oh, no Sasuke." He bit his tongue to prevent himself for laughing his ass off and then opened his mouth again. "I'm just watching you." He rested his chin on one palm and waved his other hand casually.

"…" Sasuke dropped his hand. "Hn. You're sleeping on the couch tonight."

"What?!"

The raven haired just walked into the room next to his.

"Heeeey, you can't do tha—

_Wrek. _The lock was twisted.

"…selfish bastard~." The blue haired man scratched his nape.

…

..

"Hey Karin, how about sh—"

A bowl was smashed against his face.

* * *

_Okay.. nothing happens until now. Well, okay it does but that's just the..__ intro? Anyways I'm sorry, it could have been better. But, um.. it was longer xD" I promise that it'll get better, okay? .-. And um, well, the plot kinda changed ist direction didn't it? But I have the plot inside my head and more than 17,000 words so dunworry n.ñ_

_(Note: Don't kill me about the Lee thing ok?! xD I didn't do it on purpose! *shot*)_

_And yes, there's been a delay with this chap.. but it's just that sometimes you look at your work and all self-confidence wash away. (also, I don't know what happened to the site but it wouldn't let me post this!) That's me and my lack of experience ^^" But I apologize either way._

_Review if you wish, please_


	4. The annoying beauty

_I could say 'read my story carefully please', but I realize it was my mistake dear readers u.ù I apologize, but it was never my intention to explain everything in the third chapter… Nothing that I wrote down on the previous chapter was not meant to be like that, it's the magic of the misteryyy -shot-. Aside from that, thank you for all the feedback ^^ Any question will be answered in time yes?_

_Rated [**M**]_:_ For mature content in later chapter(s). -yeah, i'll try _

_Masashi Kishimoto is the one who owns Naruto world! Hell yeah, he's the guy. _

_On with the story! _

_Enjoy~ Made for you._

* * *

_No ma__tter how pretty a flower can be…_

_..__T__he best thing to do is not to pick it up. You keep it, and it'll soon whiter for sure… If you don't take care of it properly._

_Silly words._

…_Silly truth._

* * *

o//------

**Masshiro bride.**

o//---------------

-//ol **Chapter Four **lo\\-

...

"They are looking for us."

The Uchiha placed the cold glass down on the counter once the pill was swallowed properly. He tilted one corner of his mouth to the side while doing so, hating the sensation of that rounded thing slowly making its way down his throat. He opened his eyes and stared at the man with orange hair in front of him, who was leaning against the same counter and waiting for him to say something in reply.

"I know." He said lowly.

"…Do you think they'll notice?"

…

The leader smirked.

"Of course not."

Because he was sure of it.

There was no way they could have made a mistake. It was perfect.

o//---

_Sakura got up from the bed, and rubbed her eyes slowly, slightly disgusted with the awful taste inside her mouth of dryness__ and saliva. She had to get used to it, get used to sleeping, dreaming and waking up… in such a beautiful place as Konoha._

_-"Good night, Haruno-sama."_

_-"Morning, Haruno-san!"_

_She got up from the bed and slowly walked to the mirror, observing the image before her. Such a beautiful woman this time. What a pity… She blinked once and decided to try different expressions that could adorn that pretty face. She smiled sweetly, apologetically, then she changed to an angry face, and then to a sad one. Finally, she giggled in front of the mirror._

_-"How was your day today?"_

_-"Oh Haruno, working until late at the hospital again?"_

_---_

Sasuke bowed his back and rested his elbow on the cold counter to prop his chin on his palm, the smirk still intact on his face. The tip of his large index contoured the diameter of the glass slowly, but he wasn't paying much attention to it.

"After all…"

---

_-"How's Lee doing?"_

_-"We should share a cup of tea some day Sakura-san."_

_She felt bad. No. It.. felt bad. Every time that woman with those disapproval eyes __behind the glasses and that cold scowl called it to do this kind of thing- this dirty job-, it would always wonder what happened with the people who really owned those lives. It would smile. It would cry. It would share and receive. And yet it would never understand. _

_-"I'm fine thank you!"_

_---//o_

"..we have everything under control."

_Team Taka had Konoha eating at the palm of their hands._

_Enough._

_"Haruno-san!"_

_"Haruno-sama—Or should it be Lee-sama?"_

_Enough!_

_"Sakura."_

_"Sakura-chan!"_

_E-enough… this girl… is so sad inside._

The glass slightly cracked under the pad of his finger.

* * *

"—Tchuuu!! Wrah! … It's so cold!" A red nose sniffed.

"Of course, it's winter you dumb. And be more quiet while sneezing, it's disgusting."

"Yeah yeah.. oe Karin…" Suigetsu yawned and scratched the side of his waist. "Make some tea for us will ya?"

"What the hell do you think I am? Your freaking maid?"

"But dearest, I'm still 'looking like shit'… I can't possibly move from this couch. And y'know, if you put it like that, it sounds _awfully _horrible."

"Screw y—"

A door opened leisurely somewhere inside the house, a creepy sound of old wood followed it, so it caught the attention of the two persons in the living room. They turned their heads towards the hallway. Soon, they heard the same door closing and a pink scalp came into sight. Under it, there was a pair of tired green eyes.

"…" Karin suddenly was serious again.

There was something about that girl… she didn't like it. Of course, Sasuke had to have some reason to keep her there, but if that was the case, there was no evidence of such thing so far. It confused her to no end. To complete her disturbance, the way she was reacting to everything turned out to be frustrating to her; why wasn't she shouting and glaring anymore? She went from being a rather huffy person to an empty one in just one day.

But the red haired noticed something between her small hands and frowned. It was the bowl of food that Juugo had prepared to her earlier, untouched, and it was shortly after being placed on the empty sink of ther kitchen. With her watchful eyes, Karin followed every step Sakura took, and watched how she headed to the front door to open it--to go outside to take fresh air, she assumed.

"…Sasuke's outside." Suigetsu said, and the Karin realized that he had also been observing the captured woman from his couch. "He's training."

Karin watched how those green eyes slightly narrowed when she frowned sadly, so sadly that she wondered if the girl was going to cry. She heard the faint sigh that came out from her mouth and saw how the hand that had frozen in place returned to its original position on her side. She still wore the white gloves, was a mental note that she didn't miss. And the pinkette turned around and went back to the hallway, disappearing from their sight. Soon the door was opening and closing again, and the awkward moment for Karin ended.

This girl… and Sasuke… what was going on?

The forth day, Suigetsu blinked with curiosity at the door of Sasuke's room. The raven had gone out of the house hours ago to practice- which meant that he had gone to a far place to have serious practice with massive, crazy thunders and stuff- so the.. rather awful and inexplicable feeling of having a huge and brightly yellow warning strip with black letters forming 'keep out' crossing the door had left… in a way. There was still the own pink haired who refused to have any contact with them, which.. well, was understandable.

He grabbed the doorknob and twisted it quickly so the hesitation wouldn't have the chance to appear or spread. Sunlight immediately hit his corneas and he narrowed them out of reflex to lower the intensity of the whiteness. Ah, of course, the explanation would be that the house's windows always had their blinds down, so it was unusual to them to have so much _life _inside such a small place as a bedroom –especially Sasuke's room, one would've never expected to see it like that one day.

However the shark-face man cursed that sudden life that wouldn't allow him to see the surroundings of the space. He knew the girl was somewhere inside there, so he turned his head to the bed, where one would expect a person to be in a bedroom first. So there she was.

Her face, he thought, was screaming at him 'leave me alone! shoo, shoo, fuck off!', but as interesting of a character as this Sakura woman was, she remained quiet and maintained a very calm composure above the bed, with her covered hands on her lap and both joined feet beside her left thigh.

"So lemme see… it's Sa-ku-ra, right? Maybe I've heard it wrong coming from Sasuke."

Sakura just narrowed her eyes in slight disgust; as the man spelled her name exaggeratedly, she became aware of how wr-_wrong_ and irregular his teeth were, what in the world had this man done to his mouth?

"The name's Suigetsu here. Oh, I know that you don't care, so no need to wrinkle your cute face like that."

"…" It only caused her to wrinkle it more.

"Um.. so, I think that we should sorta… establish some.. thing here." He made a circling motion with both hands.

Sakura scowled. _more rules?_

"I mean, I really have no resentments against you or your persona." He explained to her with overstated movements. "It's just that you need to _excuse _Sasuke for being the bastard way he is."

She just blinked at him.

"It's okay for you to hate us; we did burn a good deal of Konoha down. But at least you shouldn't consider yourself dead just yet. …And you know what I mean; like, what was that? I think you only ate a portion of rice on the entire week."

"…" She blinked again. "But that's not of your concern."

Suigetsu opened his mouth, looked at her, then at the wall, and finally closed his offensive cave again.

"Wh-what are you doing? Are you.. _concerned _about me? Talking to me? I-is this a joke?" She looked genuinely confused. "I don't.. quite understand our situation now. I really hate you, if it has ever occurred to you or your friends that that's not true."

"N-nooo.. nonono, you get it all wrong." He grinned. "Sasuke cares about you."

He smiled sympathetically.

_Tuc._

Had he spoken the oh-so-forbidden taboo words? Was Sasuke a kind of playboy who played with cute girls like her and then dumped them cruelly? Whatever the reason was, it had to be really serious (or _good_) for her to perfectly aim a kunai on the middle of his forehead after those words were said.

"Woah!!" Amazingly, he avoided.

"Get out."

"Will you be—"

"Get out!!"

_Slam!_

"Man, she really is impossible!"

*-*-*

…

One week had passed.

It was snowing… so winter has finally come? It's been a while since his last check on the calendar.

The redheaded woman behind him didn't want to talk. It was smoothing to see Sasuke leaning against the cold glass, steaming it up with his hot breath, watching the snowflakes fall from the sky outside the balcony. His chakra had calmed down so extremely that it was contagious. The red and unsteady parts of shinny chakra had faded away, and the purple ones seemed to be in perfect harmony with his natural blue chakra that at the moment was producing a pleasant feeling instead of a chilly one.

Why… was that?

"…Sasuke."

He turned around.

"…" Karin just shook her head. "She's very stubborn."

Sakura hadn't been eating at all. But the Uchiha had been silently watching her, always so discreetly and serene. She would bath. She would put on her dress again. She would sleep on his bed. She would go out to stay outside a little, so little that one would just notice that she had gone out when she was already returning to the house, to stare at nothing in particular, and yet she would not eat the hot food Juugo prepared for them or speak to him. Like a ghost, she wandered inside the house without saying a word, dressed in white.

It was sort of suspicious, but the expression on Sakura's face left any doubt aside, she was miserable, and it was killing him. Not because he was feeling compassion towards her, no, it was because she was still using that power over him even if he was the one keeping her locked like a bird; he should not feel that way. And that strange sensation of hesitating every single time he saw hr face, her arm, her hand, pink locks moving away wasn't leaving either. He wanted her to get away from him, did it make sense?

But… he.. needed--

"And Sasuke... it's so cold, I'm sure she'll catch a cold, flu, a fever, or something like that if she doesn't eat." She crossed her arms. "And it'll be annoying as hell."

"…"

She narrowed her eyes. "You two are friends.. aren't you?"

He smirked and closed his eyes. "You're kidding me, right?"

"…I'm sure you are." Karin pouted. "I told you, she's stubborn, but... so you are."

"…" Sasuke opened his eyes again and his smirk dropped. "Anyway, I'll go see her."

"Are you sure? She hasn't looked at your face once." She said while the Uchiha passed by her.

"I don't care."

And he was gone.

* * *

…

Green eyes watched as a chest went slowly up and down in a calm respiration. A cold air came from the tiny, tiny space between the window and its border. It made the curtains slowly lift, hang in the air for a second, and glue back to the wall.

"…"

Huge, black eyes opened slowly. They were watery shiny and unfocused, and so the large diameter of the dark iris made it possible to reflect every contrasting surface his eyes laid theirs sight on, from the white walls to the window and then on her beautiful face. But that sudden and important change on his face didn't make her heart jump in that _especial _way, and yet _it _widened her eyes to make her look (prettily, always prettily) surprised.

"…Sakura?"

The man lying on the bed turned his palm to face upwards. He moved his fingers slightly, calling for his fiancée's hand.

She smiled. "Hey…" And intertwined her fingers with his.

Lee returned the smile, but then frowned. "…H-how are you? Are you hurt? Did..?"

Sakura shook her head. "No, I'm fine." … "How are you feeling?"

"…" He looked ahead and saw a white wardrobe. It had been a long time since the taijutsu master decided that he loathed that color that looked so marvelous on the woman beside him. "…I feel horrible." His thumb stroked her soft hand.

…

The humming of the air conditioner washed the silence away, but there was still some kind of tension hanging on the air of the spacious hospital room. Questions wandered around the mind of the person lying down on the bed and information gathered inside the head of the fake woman holding his hand.

"…I won't let that ruin everything." The pinkette rested her forehead on his stomach, and he placed his other hand above her hair lovingly and spoke again. "We'll get married no matter what."

"…" Something made it shiver, but it had to be the air conditioner, carelessly left on in such a cold winter day as that one.

The clock slowly ticked the time away, in a monotonous pace. The green irises attentively stared at a certain spot among one of the white walls, trembling so imperceptibly, and in between a very short-lived moment they rested behind thin eyelids and her forehead leaned more against the hard but comfortable tummy, letting herself enjoy the soft strokes on her hair. Strange, but it was the first time it felt like she was really enjoying a moment.

Still, her heart would not jump.

* * *

...

Sometimes, his patience was reasonable. He could wait. Just as he did this whole week.

But when it finished,

_It finished._

**Chhhhhhhhiiiuuuuu—CRACK!**

He would enter that room, that was his in every right possible, and establish the rules to her again.

The latch of the door flew away and hit against the furthest wall, and the door opened on its own weakly. His Sharingan scanned his own room and he found her.

"…Sakura."

She was just sitting on the floor, looking at the window which set in on the level of her nose. Her forehead was touching the cold glass and her breath steamed the transparence turning it almost white. Some of her thin hair strands, tough, touched the steamed glass and drew translucent patterns on it. Her dress was all sprawled through the floor near her.

"You're going to kill yourself." He said while he closed the door angrily.

"…" She didn't even flinch.

"Eat."

The room continued to be silent, but Sasuke wouldn't break it. He wanted to see her speak, react, _move_… something. So he would maintain the silence until she decided to say something. And he wouldn't leave either; act that he knew bothered the pink haired.

"…why is it that…" Her voice was so weak. "even after one week.. I can't find the exact reason as to why I am here yet."

Sasuke ran a hand through his dark hair and closed his eyes. "Eat." He repeated.

"…" She lifted one hand and touched the glass. "…It's snowing." The hand dropped and she sighed, finally turning away from the window, but eyes closed –refusing to see the man before her- and chin lifted. The back of her skull touched the glass of the window. "I would have to be on my honeymoon right now… so pretty if it snows…"

"…"

She revealed her beautiful green eyes, but she was looking down to her hand resting on the floor next to her ankle. "How could you take such happiness from me…?"

He couldn't answer that.

"It's like… you're dragging me to your hole of disgrace." She was about to cry. "And.. it's working.." She lied down on the floor, and her hand hanged on the cold air with difficulty due to her lack of strength, making random movements. "I feel like withering away…"

…

His Sharingan faded as he saw her slender fingers dancing.

"…" He opened the door, but stayed there. He grew annoyed as she didn't move from the floor.

"Sakura."

She still refused to look at him.

"You.. can go."

Her hand halted with a quick twitch, and he didn't miss it.

…

…

_Do it before I change m—_

"W..what?"

"…You heard me."

She turned her body and supported her trunk on her palms to.. finally look at him. And he still didn't understand why she was so beautiful now. The pink hair fell on her surprised face gracefully and she parted her lips. He shoved his hands on his pockets and looked at her too.

And it was noticeable… how the putrid aura wasn't there. They were looking at each other… as former teammates. But Sasuke knew that it stopped there. There was no more Sasuke-kun and shinny green eyes. In its place there was a pretty face with long eyelashes and a mature expression.

"…Tch." He turned away. "You just better don't bring anyone in here."

"…you can't really count on that."

"It's simple. If someone comes here, I'll go after and kill you."

"But you'll let me out anyway, won't you?"

"Just go, annoying woman."

Sakura quieted and looked away. "…It's unfair, Sasuke-kun." She finally stood up. "You're in front of me and yet I can't bring you to Konoha on my own."

He turned his handsome face to look at her firmly. "Get stronger."

"I'm working on that."

"...Hn." He couldn't help smirking.

"And.. maybe it's the lack of eating... but... I think that even after years, I can't stay mad at you for too long.."

Sasuke's smirk dropped and he looked at the window behind the pink haired, watching the snow spectacle again. "...Then you're not working on anything."

"…" She lifted her chin. "I hope you're not right. I wouldn't like to know that I've been lectured by a person with so few principles as you."

The Uchiha moved aside as the Haruno passed by him, but then she halted, and turned around to face him.

_You are an annoying girl..._

He would say. ...But.. now, it kind of sounded different.

_Annoying woman._

Didn't it?

"I'll never forgive you for what you did."

She smiled at him and he raised an eyebrow, _now _she smiled at him.

But he left aside his thoughts as he saw pink hair floating on the air as Sakura ran through the hallway towards the exit door, lifting her skirt so she wouldn't trip. He could imagine an intense red carpet beneath her bare feet and rice being thrown to the air to bless her. And he only stood there, watching her leave him without looking back once. He could see the people clapping their hands with content smiles, the dobe, Kakashi, all the rookie nine. But she just kept running elegantly.

…Maybe, it was true. She was an already married woman.

And was she a magnificent bride? Made to brag her beauty with her white dress and heels? What happened to the twelve years old child that giggled behind him? ...He could answer that, he knew he could. Just... didn't feel like doing it.

He frowned, thoughtful… when she opened the door, he could see. See _him. _Merely a blur dressed in tuxedo and black pants, smiling at her and soon enough, running at her side, holding her hand.

And they disappeared between the white snow and sky.

"…"

"…Hey, Sasuke."

"…Hn."

"Are you letting your bride escape?"

He didn't answer. Suigetsu bit his cheek, waiting for the Uchiha to react.

"She's not my bride." The raven haired shoved his hands on his pockets. "...There's no need to worry."

_Heh, right... Liar._

"…So now you're going to sleep in your bed again?"

"…" He looked at him blankly. "Aa."

A favor. Was it too difficult? He just needed to ask a favor to an old friend. But he was too selfish and stubborn to do it passively. And now he was missing it. He was watching his own salvation escape through his fingers.

The beast had lost his frozen rose.

…But. The smile on her face meant something, didn't it? It had to.

He just hoped it was worthwhile.

*-*-*

"What kind of gentle-fucking-men are they?! …Making the only woman in the team work like this. I bet they're only taking advantage because Juugo's sleeping!" The redheaded wanted to adjust her glasses, but if she did, everything would fall from her arms surely. "Stupid winter, stupid cold…"

Karin carried the firewood to their hideout reluctantly, huffing and almost stomping towards her destination, which happened to be that hateful house. Of course, Suigetsu was the one who had asked her to do it… using Sasuke's name, as we're talking about Karin and she'd do everything he asked her for even pretending she'd not.

"Stupid Suigetsu.."

She began throwing each piece of trunk against the house's wooden wall angrily. Other person would have the pleasure to take the firewood to the cellar, because she would definitely not do it!

_Clank._

_Clank._

While she continued doing her awful job, the front door suddenly opened and almost made her drop everything. She could hear soft footsteps getting closer until she saw Sakura coming out of the place with a huge smile on her face.

"…" _What the-?_

She observed, agape, as the pink haired woman moved away, slightly detained by the high snow covering the ground; her long hair was bouncing on the air. And it was a nice scene to watch, unfortunately. A beautiful bride running through snow covered fields on a pretty winter morning. Hm, how poetic…

"…stupid girl."

Other person would have to take the pleasure to go and chase her before she reached the high voltage barrier Sasuke had set in. Because she would definitely not do it.

_Clank!_

No one did.

* * *

_I understand, peepole, that you feel confused or frustated to be confused or something like that xD But I'm not that distracted, there are some things which are not meant to be explained so soon .-. And I thiink this is not going to be a very long story, but I honestly have no idea. (And hmm.. still not in the good part)_

_I appreciate that you've read this chapter and will be more than glad if you like it ^^v_

_If y__ou say: "Hey I want to review for this :D (:/)" I answer: "Oh, then please s2"_


	5. The returning plague

_I apologize for the slow, slow update. I got distracted and stuck xD" If you write fanfics… maybe you understand me ._._

_Kiishimoto, you know him, good guy, great drawer, healthy man,__the one who actually is lucky to own Naruto stuff… Yeah, I know. "Why didn't I think about an orange-clothed blonde hyperactive ninja before him?" Meh. _

_Ooon with the chapter!__ I hope you enjoy it…_

_

* * *

...  
_

_One night, I looked up the sky while hearing the soft breathing of the man sleeping beside me._

_I closed my eyes, joined my hands._

_And I prayed for someone to show up, take my hand, and say._

"_It's okay. I understand you, don't hide anymore."_

_Just a li__ght push; that's all I needed to spread my wings and do so..

* * *

_

-/o

**Masshir****o bride:**

The white bride and the vermilion leader.

-/o

-/ol **Chapter five **lo\\-

…

The red chaos.

That's how the day would be remembered among the citizens of Konoha from that moment on.

However, it didn't matter how much people would resent their feelings on the color of the flames. What should they really blame to? Why would they just take advantage of the… _beauty _of the fire that destroyed years of memories? In the end the name would be nothing more than a failed attempt of combining beautiful words with a catastrophic reality.

If you thought clearly about the realism around the fact, you would call it the grey chaos, for how impossible it was to detect the nearest being because of the suffocating clouds of smoke that took over the streets and houses.

How impossible.. it was to see _them_ quickly but smartly preparing their way to the outsides of the flames that engulfed Konoha, as the awful result of their attack and work –the intense blackish grey clouds- hid them successfully.

_He closed his eyes, trying to calm himself down. It was for the best. _

"_Karin, I need you." He said._

"…_What for?" She sounded annoyed, but willing to help._

"I need you to use your summoning jutsu."

The sound of the fire burning everything resounded clearly in their ears; it gave a certain character to the atmosphere. And it wasn't very pleasing. The team Taka didn't seem to mind.

"…Wh-what? ..But.. but don't we have to hide our chakras? There might be detectors around here."

"Don't worry about that, I have it under control." And indeed Uchiha Sasuke didn't speak with hesitation.

"…Are you sure?"

"Do it, Karin."

One cold glance was enough to make her take out the large scroll attached on her waist. Karin opened and placed it on the floor, quickly and a little nervously because of the circumstances surrounding them. She closed her eyes and tried to accumulate only the necessary chakra.

"However,"

She halted.

"I also need you to do _that_."

And her eyes hardened.

"Kuchiyose no Jutsu!"

_~Pakun!_

…

"Did you call… master?"

"Oe, you." She crossed her arms and looked down on the animal before her. Gross. "We need you."

"…Oh." It glanced at Sasuke without lifting its chin, saw how scary his stare was. Then it looked down again at its sticky fingers wiggling. "..It's been a while since the last time you needed me." It muttered.

"Sasuke." The red haired woman turned to her leader. "What do you want from it?" She asked clearly confused.

Sasuke looked at Suigetsu for a moment, then at Juugo. He didn't want them to hold the woman dressed in white on his arms; they surely thought she was just some random girl he had decided to capture to satisfy some need–of course he was still feeling rather disturbed by the rude commentary Suigetsu had made some seconds ago… he, himself, was not into virgin ones, but was he?...-

The raven haired bent down and let Sakura's legs go, leaning her body against his so she wouldn't fall on the floor, he then eyed the creature before him. Pitiful.

"You see her?" He merely said, obviously referring to Sakura.

The other Taka members watched him; the curiosity confusing them on whether feeling irritated by their leader's internal thoughts in such critical situation –after all, he had been the one who ordered everyone to _follow the plan _and now doing only Kami knows what- or simply curious about what he was planning to do with the bride and Karin's pet. The summon looked at her, from head to toes. Then the big yellow eyes with red pupils stared at Sasuke's Sharingan, so scary...

"…I see." It murmured. "You.. want me to..?"

"Aa. Can you do it?"

"…" The creature lowered its head. "If… if master wishes so."

Karin looked at Sasuke, frowning lightly. He looked back, face blank.

"She does." He said without taking his eyes from hers.

She sighed.

"Tch, come on Karin. Don't be such a girl!"

"Shut up you stupid head!"

"Hurry." She heard her leader say.

"Y-yes I know! –Ugh! Come here."

The reptile crawled all the way up her body and stopped on the top of her head with a sad expression on his face.

"You ready..?" She muttered and felt the animal nod quickly above her head.

Karin's eyes inspected Sakura's body completely. She narrowed her eyes and soon the pale skin lay forgotten, turning black and transparent-like, and the chakra connections started glowing until the body consisted only in green capillaries, some as wide as huge arteries and others almost unnoticeable, filled with flowing chakra.

"… Is.. she a kunoichi?"

"?" That caught Sasuke's attention, slightly, as he was still more concerned about their surroundings.

"That's one chakra system she has there, huh. Better not wake her up Sasuke." And at that moment she scowled and really thought over what the hell had the Uchiha come up with this time with that girl that apparently had the capacity of ruining everything. "Damn it.. Well, you got it?" She asked her servant animal.

"Y-yes."

"Then what the hell are you waiting for! Go!"

"Hai!"

_~Pakun!_

Smoke. Smoke invaded the air. But it didn't matter, they were well covered. After all, the whole village was covered with almost black clouds of smoke, illuminated by a dim light of red. ..The red chaos, beautiful and deadly.

And from the thick smoke, a leg came out. Smooth and long, gracefully, it stepped on the ground visibly enough for Taka to see it; the small foot below, bare and arched. Then a hand appeared, its fingers curling around a white and large skirt lightly. They watched how it lost its grip on the cloth and meanwhile, how the skirt returned to the original length, covering the pale skin of the leg again.

Then a face. Beautiful, painted, long eyelashes, red lips, blushing cheeks, barely sweating. And to Sasuke, he never thought it would be so difficult to admit that those eyes were indeed Sakura's once they were opened. That unique pair of eyes… there. Copied so easily.

Finally, they noticed the pink hair, straight, smooth, and curled on the edges. The weird hair that matched those unique eyes perfectly.

From the thick cloud of smoke, Haruno Sakura from Konohagakure came out.

But the leader… he still held an unconscious bride on his arms.

For a moment, there was a silence. A silence that for some reason had bothered Karin to no end; what was wrong? Hadn't they seen that trick a lot of times before? She cleared her throat lightly.

"Check out the chakra systems; capillary, tones, intensity, everything. It has to be perfect." Sasuke said firmly.

"M-master…" The creature said. The voice… the voice, Sakura's. "Is it well done?"

Karin scowled, her entire face frowning. Her animal was blushing on her skin and she didn't understand either. She wasn't that pretty for Kami's sake.

"Hunf…" She grunted. "It's perfect."

"Let's get out of here.." Suigetsu complained, leaning against Juugo. He was tired of so much hot ambient; he needed a bath or a bottle of fresh water. And healing.

"Name." Sasuke demanded.

"Haruno Sakura." The summoned creature replied.

"Age."

"23."

"Blood type."

"O+"

He narrowed his eyes. "Specialty."

"Medic nin."

"Are you perfectly sure that everything's been copied?"

"Perfectly sure,"

The Sharingan activated again, Sasuke narrowed his eyes in a cold stare toward the pretty face; it remained calm.

"Sasuke-kun." It finished. So low… Low enough for only Sasuke to hear it.

"Let's go."

"Orrh~! Finally! Come on Juuguis, help me here."

"Suigetsu…" The orange-haired man glanced at him. "..you're lame."

"…" He twirled on his ankle and the white bangs of his hair swirled in synchrony around his head, some slamming against his face. "Kaaarin! I knew you would help me if I needed."

"Drop dead."

Taka team escaped.

And Sasuke looked over his shoulder one last time, to see the poor creature standing there between the flames with arms on the sides and parted lips.

The look on her face…

There was something very interesting in that hidden technique known only by the female member on his team. The jutsu not only copied the appearance, that was something that pitiful animal could only do if alone. However, combined with the secret scroll Karin always carried on her waist, the jutsu copied the memories and feelings of the target, everything. A perfect replica.

He narrowed his eyes and looked away, gripping the slim waist of the woman on his shoulder tighter without noticing.

That hurt look… He could almost hear it…

"_Sasuke-kun…."_

"_Don't leave me here please.."_

…

_I'm taking you._

Tighter. Without caring if he was suffocating her.

Sasuke turned around; his eyes red, fierce. His Sharingan spun when the faker's eyes met it.

And Haruno Sakura from Konohagakure fell on the dirty ground with the impact of the powerful Sharingan, her pretty white dress sprawling on the hot ground along with her hair. Her eyes closed and her thoughts then absent from her mind.

_I'm taking you._

_And no one will ever notice._

_..._

_.._

_

* * *

_

_Present._

..._  
_

It was kind of predictable... To see what his slightly orange eyes were capturing at the moment. But he didn't know it yet as he didn't recognize the person instantly.

There was a fallen angel sprawled through the white, clean snow. But of course, it was not an angel, or at least it couldn't be. It didn't have wings –first of all-, it was pale as cotton, and the chest was slowly, so slowly that it was almost unnoticeable, going up and down, breathing. But suddenly he remembered and almost whacked his own head after doing so. That pink hair, those long lashes, red lips and pointy nose, that pale skin and that white dress.. That angel who now clearly was a normal person once again was Sasuke-san's bride, passed out on the ground.

"…" The man didn't move.

Didn't the woman escape yesterday according to Suigetsu and Karin? He hadn't seen Sasuke since his nap that day so he hadn't been able to hear the Leader's version, but he could tell by those other two's faces that it was true. What was she doing there?

"…Maybe I should help her." Juugo scratched his nape and glanced at the bird resting on his shoulder. "Or maybe… not."

…

He touched her arm and found it to be very soft and cold at the same time, like the petal of a freezing flower. If it weren't for his sudden noticing of her chest barely pumping, he would easily take her for dead just by touching her forehead. His huge hand took a firm grip of the thin a freezing arm and he carefully placed her above his shoulder, making snow fall from her hair, body and dress onto the white grass of the forest and his clothes. He blinked as he smelled her smooth scent and suddenly wondered if he should be blushing and being nervous about carrying such a fragile and feminine creature with him.

"…but, what is she doing here?" He asked to no one in particular -maybe the birds- as he headed to the only place he could think of to refuge her.

* * *

...

"….Juugo."

He turned around and closed the door quietly; some gust of wind carrying tiny remaining of the snow outside got in the wooden house.

"Juugo."

Said man, then, went from carrying Sakura above his shoulder to carry her by her knees and shoulders. He carefully rested her above the comfy and old couch.

"Juugo what do you think you're _doing_?"

Juugo closed his eye tightly when the woman with glasses snapped and shouted at him. He finally turned around and met Karin's angry face with his clueless one.

"I went to look for firewood as you asked, because I knew it was my turn to do so, and then after walking some minutes, I—"

"Why… w-w-why… why her?" Karin adjusted her glasses, something she would do when she didn't really know what to say or shout. "It's been just a day and she's come back!"

"Yare yare… are you already shouting in the morning, Karin? If I get deaf, you'll stitch me a new ear." Suigetsu came out of his bedroom scratching his head with messy hair and halted as he spotted his teammates in the living room, lowering his hand and blinking, clearly confused. "Orê? …Hey! That's Sasuke's chic—"

"We have to get rid of her before he comes back!" The redheaded made exaggerated gestures with her hands while talking.

"…Eh? Why?" Both men asked her.

"B-because she's trouble!" She pushed her glasses up. "Isn't that obvious?"

"I totally disagree." Suigetsu crossed one leg above the other, his arms as well, and balanced himself on flat of one foot in the middle of the hallway. "That woman over there," He pointed at Sakura, fainted on the couch, without moving his arm from its place. "Is Sasuke's diagnosis."

"…What do you mean with diagnosis?" Karin's mouth lowered to the level of her chin and she frowned, angry. "She's terribly sick now! Just as I predicted! Do you know how much trouble it will cost me if Sasuke finds out about this?"

"By diagnosis," Suigetsu smiled sideway, ignoring her comments. "I mean that… haven't you seen?"

"Seen _what_?" Karin grunted, she didn't have time for riddles.

When Suigetsu was going to open his mouth with pointy teeth again to speak, the front door was slammed open.

And the dark figure of Uchiha Sasuke appeared on the other side of it.

The Leader was back.

His eyes were as red as the blood on his clothes and the purple chakra of his interior demon was putrefying the air around him, quickly infecting the whole house like a visible disease. His back was slightly bowed and his left arm was stretched horizontally with its hand flat against the poor wooden door. The other hand had his inseparable sword trapped on his strong grip.

"…" Karin took a step backwards and frowned one eyebrow. Today… he was-

"…" Juugo unconsciously hid Sakura's body on the couch with his own big body.

"…Honey! You're back!" Suigetsu threw his arms to the air and walked toward the Uchiha to give him a hug.

"_Don't touch me."_

His stretched arms turned into two _peaceful _hands on the air, and his eyes closed as he smirked. "There, there."

For a moment there, Karin almost let the breath she was holding out, seeing that the Uchiha started closing his eyes in an attempt to express how his head was aching; he was pushing it again…When Sasuke's eyes, however, widened so suddenly and his back aligned again -as if someone had just pinched him from behind- Karin almost whined in fear. As she had nervously expected, he eventually turned his head to both her and Juugo, looking at them as if they had three mouths and one eye.

"…Move aside," He ordered Juugo, still with the shocked expression and focusing his eyes on one certain spot of the bipolar man's stomach.

"…"

"I said move aside!" The commas on his Sharingan spun around the pupil once and stood still in place again, saliva flew out of his mouth.

The orange haired man looked at Sasuke uncertainly for a second before he finally obeyed. And showed her to him.

"…" The Uchiha almost dropped his sword, but after realizing that, his grip on it only tightened and he slowly walked to the woman resting innocently. He halted before her and his jaw dropped slightly.

He was looking at her as if she was an extremely difficult puzzle game that even he couldn't solve.

"S-Sasuke, we—"

The rotten aura intensified and now the threeother Taka members moved one step away from him.

"What's the meaning of this?" … "You better tell me _now._"

"I brought her-." The very moment Juugo finished the final dot of his sentence, a snake head was showing its fangs at him from one inch of distance, hissing dangerously.

"You brought her." Sasuke repeated the words, although when he was the one saying them, they sounded insane.

Suigetsu watched the whole scene silently, and he wondered how Karin didn't understand him when he said that this pink haired girl is indeed Sasuke's remedy. Sometimes he told himself that Juugo wasn't the only bipolar member of the group, the Uchiha had his fits too, and they could be way worse than Juugo's if the raven wanted to. Heck, he _needn't _clarify the fact to himself because it was there, and he was seeing it now. However-

"Then _you_ take her out of my sight."

"She's not sleeping, Sasuke. She has fainted." Juugo calmly explained. "She… shouldn't have gone out in this weather wearing nothing but a thin dress and without eating for da—"

"Shut up." Sasuke still had his back facing the team, and it was once again bowed. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes. "I want to kill you three. So don't talk anymore."

Karin clenched her fists, and gulped down, today was a definitely bad day. She wasn't sure about what to do. Strangely, Juugo hadn't moved from his spot and was still looking at Sasuke, who was still pointing his snake at him as if it was a gun or something worse. The one who first took action, tough, was the one she was hoping to shut his _face _and never take action, but really, that was impossible.

"I've told you."

…

There was this low, horrible and sarcastic chuckle of his.

"Sasuke…"

_Sh-shut __**up**__, idiot...!_

"..you're just so full of yourself… Hah… you are." Suigetsu rested his hands behind his head and wiped out the grin on his face to wear a bored expression. "Do you honestly think that you're able to kill us three just because you can't control your little feelings after seeing he—"

_Ssscklish! _

"!" Karin joined her thighs as Sasuke's sword pierced Suigetsu's stomach.

Water soon started to sprout from the hole and slid to their feet, creating a tiny pool between them. Suigetsu was smirking, Sasuke was frowning angrily. Their eyes had some kind of sparkle that she definitely didn't like.

"We can make some use of her."

"No." Sasuke pressed the blade a little further on the pierced body.

"Yes we can. Of course we can. Wasn't that your intention from the beginning? …Ooor… wait, are you admitting it was just a whim then?" His smirk widened as the raven narrowed his eyes. "Let's make a deal."

"I don't deal with people. And less if it is you."

"If I win, we'll keep her. If you win, well… let's say you can do whatever you want with her."

Now, that angered him _bad_.

From the opened front door of the old house used as hideout by team Taka, a man came out and threw himself on the snow to flip over and dodge a fireball. Said man, curiously, didn't seem intimidated by the burning danger at all, instead, a playful smile was drawn on his face, with one tooth coming out and pressing against his bottom lip.

"Oh Sasuke?" He mockingly exclaimed. "Did I push any rusty button of yours by mentioning her? -Woah!" A bigger fireball was launched toward him. "Or I rather say… shove any?"

The Uchiha said nothing as he ran toward Suigetsu from the hideout, with his arm thrown backwards, the traditional way of running used by ninjas. He stopped as the youthful man dissolved into water and disappeared into the snow.

A loud chuckle was heard somewhere- it creepily felt as if it came from the very thick air- and Sasuke slowly, attentively, whirled around his hinge with his sword prepared. He narrowed his eyes and his Sharingan repeated its twitch of swiveling the black tomoes.

"_Hehehahaha! Don't forget I have advantage in this scene Sasuke…" _

"…"

A body came from behind Sasuke on the snow and tried to jump on him, but the Uchiha prodigy was faster and spun around in time to slash the water clone in two. Particles of water were spat in the air due to the fierce attack and gathered, still in the air, to materialize into sharp frozen needles. They flew in direction of Sasuke, the shinning tips dangerously pointing at him. The target tch'ed –needles… he _loathed_ them- and scanned the jutsu with his eyes; that was a new one.

"You _fool_…" Sasuke murmured as if the insult was the worst of all. "I have… fire element."

_Katon._

_Gonkakyuu no Jutsu._

The two other Taka members ran out of the house, their hearts beating fast. The orange haired man stepped out further than the woman wearing glasses, who was too scared to approach much and stood by the entrance of the house.

Juugo's eyes caught a hint of orange and red and widened as he saw the probably biggest fireball he had ever seen. It melted the entire grass and was launched in direction of the depths of the forest, burning everything it touched and frightening off the birds that flew away from it.

"And…"

Sasuke smirked. _Hn._

"My thunders, too."

**Ch.**

**Ch-ch..chchchiii**

**!**

Once the whole fireball drastically vanished in less than a second, Sasuke invoked his deadly blue thunders on his left hand and quickly bent down to touch the grass with it. All the snow and ice that had melted with the Katon jutsu was electrified and the lightning strike spread severally through the wet fields and trees, scaring off the birds and rodents, cracking woods, making a deafening noise and forming a thin layer of blue light hanging on the shallow of the air.

"…" Karin was open-mouthed, so surprised to see the rarely uncovered skills of her leader that she didn't notice something brushing against her shoulder.

Sasuke gracefully straightened out his position and looked down on the burnt grass with superiority, thinking deeply.

"I WIN!"

"S-stop- God, _stop_!"

Sasuke halted his movements, just as Suigetsu was prevented from attacking the raven with his gigantic sword from a behind him. As the raven recognized the voice faster, he was the first to turn his face to look at the source of it, Suigetsu then turned his attention to it too.

Sakura was leaning against the front door's frame of the house, next to Karin. She seemed dizzy, and was frowning as if something was killing her from inside, which was indeed the case.

"Y-you're team.. damn it, a _team_!" Her teeth were hitting against each other as she shivered from the cold. "A team… is not sss-supposed t-to be fighting like thi-is! Drop it..!" She muttered as her legs gave away and she kneeled on the wet and moist wooden floor of the entrance, almost hugging the door frame desperately.

"…"

Certainly, Konoha hasn't changed at all. Teamwork, there you had something that was as important to them as water.

And certainly, this girl was capable of keeping Sasuke's beast inside its cage, or at least of making it calm down a little.

"_We need her." _

_

* * *

_..._  
_

There was still a threatening tension between Sasuke and Suigetsu as team Taka rested on the dining room. In the Uchiha's calm way, with his hands intertwined above the table –his chin above them- and lightly tapping the back of the hand underneath with his index. And in the other man's amused way, leaned down against the chair with one arm behind the backboard and his right hand gripping lightly a plastic glass filled with water.

They were trying not to look at each other too much.

And Sakura was trying not to ask Sasuke why he had blood on his clothes. But eventually she turned her attention to the bowl in front of her, the painful hunger no longer allowing her to refuse eating the food Juugo prepared. It was her third bowl now. She had a thick blanket above her shoulders but her body shook anyways. She felt like hell.

"So-"

Karin wanted to punch the idiot, even though she did perceived the tension inside the room, the silence turned out to be way better than Suigetsu's mocking voice that always led to a fight with Sasuke cutting it. It made her feel sick with nervousness, because of course; she was the member who was there because of her skills, not her bravery. That was another thing she hated about the pink haired girl; she just seemed annoyed, not nervous or scared as _she _was, it made her feel inferior, out of place, in a way. How could she be eating so calmly? The redhead looked down at her bowl, scowling at how it was practically untouched.

"Has Sasuke ever told you why we needed you, pinky?"

Karin and Juugo blinked confused at that. Juugo curious, Karin incredulous.

"…" Sakura blinked once and closed her eyes, ignoring him as she lifted the chopsticks to her mouth.

"So I found out you're Konoha's best _medic_." His amused grin widened as he said the emphasized word. "And. Since you're from all that Konoha shit; you must have more information than we have."

Karin gulped down after seeing Sasuke's _face._ Suigetsu was making the whole thing up. None of them had the slightest idea of why they had her with them, only the Leader that refused to say a word. What the hell was the idiot thinking of?

"Not interested."

"I'm afraid that's not a request."

And she didn't understand why Sasuke was keeping quiet, why was that? Was he trying to keep the team's reputation in front of that woman intact? If he said something contradictive the girl would surely be confused or thought they were stupid. Karin frowned angrily upon thinking about it.

"…" Sakura looked up, serious. To Suigetsu. To Sasuke. Then to Karin. Sasuke frowned; by the look on her face, she didn't buy it.

Sakura looked down to her bowl again. "Well _Sasuke… _I'm quite surprised." She had that angry smile on her face, only that this time, it had no frowns. She was simply smiling, and Sasuke simply knew that meant she was angry. Simply like that. She continued.

"I would have never imagined that _you _would someday need the help of someone like _me_ to such an important mission as destroying Konoha, our homeland." She said calmly as she started to play with her food using the chopsticks, poking and budging the noodles. "And as far as I'm concerned, you have let me escape without needing any healing help or information from me. Why is that I'm aware about this just now?"

Sasuke glanced at Suigetsu. _He would make him suffer Chinese torture after this. _He looked back at Sakura, what the fuck should he say? But of course, keep it cool, because indeed, he was cool, just didn't know what to say in reply and honestly he didn't care about that either. Yet, the matter was a nuisance after all.

"But, princess," Suigetsu interrupted. "You didn't think Sasuke would be so cold-hearted and try to take advantage of you so soon?"

"Oh? That's news for me. I've heard that he burned my village -that curiously is his as well- down."

Karin almost slapped one palm against her forehead. Stupid, stupid Suigetsu!

"Burning buildings down is easier than confronting an old friend in ninja vocabulary." He said with the straw connected to the glass with water between his teeth.

"…" Sakura placed her hands on her lap. "I would just have liked to hear it coming from him. You know, first you need to teach a person how to speak properly, with more formulated words than monosyllables, before expecting said person to have any idea of what ninja vocabulary means. And you're terrible at lying; if you're bored entertain yourself with something else."

"…"

Sakura sneezed quietly.

"-Excuse me." She slowly stood up from the chair and looked at Juugo; should she thank him for the meal? … "…" No.

As the white dressed woman made her way to the front door –because she didn't care anymore about the low pressure and cold but instead about getting out of that place- one hand gripped her wrist. She wished it didn't, she just wanted to go back… Why would they still torment her?

"What?" She turned around with a glare, her eyes already shinning with tears waiting for her to blink so they could fall.

It was Sasuke.

Her glare turned into a sad frown. She looked at one of his eyes, and then to the other, her own eyes slightly moving left and right as she did so. "You let me go once! Why won't you let me go now?"

Sasuke narrowed his eyes, but not tightly as he always did, _slightly_ narrowed them, making his stare on her harden.

"You said it." He only murmured.

"…I can't understand you Sasuke! What do you mean? What do you always mean?"

"I let you go once."

Her face twisted to become shocked.

"You had your chance…"

_Shocked…_

"..and you didn't make it."

_Shocked._

"…"

"You won't go out in that state. Wait until you recover."

_SLAM!_

And once again.

Haruno Sakura found herself trapped inside that old, medium sized house that seemed endless, again. Powerless, secured.

"…"

Still shocked at the words that had been coldly thrown at her.

* * *

...

"I'll kill you."

"Oe wait Sasuke! I—"

"I'll _kill _you." He repeated. His sick Sharingan was holding back to prevent itself from sending his teammate into a distorted dimension that could be worse than _hell_.

"You will only reveal yourself by doing this. You think she won't sense your chakra if you carry on?"

"That's _shit._ I'm tired of your manipulative and conceited way of speaking to me. I'm not a fucking idiot, and consider yourself in danger if you think I'm one."

"Don't exaggerate, you're our leader! Tch, I wouldn't think that."

Suigetsu was the only one who could deal with a furious Sasuke, really. Karin was trying to mutter to the Uchiha to stop, and Juugo was silent and wondering if all this was his fault.

"…" He continued to glare at the white haired. He should kill him, dismember him, but found it inappropriate under the circumstances. "I won't be responsible for _anything._" He said while exiting the house. "You do what you will. I don't _care _anymore."

**BLAM! **The door almost cracked as Sasuke closed it.

"…"

"…"

… …

"You STUPID FUCK!" The redheaded punched Suigetsu.

"Ouch! What?" He asked as if nothing had ever happened.

"Now we'll have to deal with a kidnapped sick girl and Sasuke_ bitching_! And you know it's not some normal bitching, it's Sasuke-bitching! What the hell is wrong with you?" She shouted while continuing to punch him, trying to make those droplets of water outcome from the peeling of his skin due to her heavy fists. "He can't be like this! He's fucking out of control!"

"Tsc, you loud woman!" Suigetsu grabbed her fist and moved it aside. "I'm doing this for Sasuke's sake!"

Her eyebrow twitched; couldn't he notice how the door was almost_ broken_ because of the now dangerous raven? "You've got to be kidding me! If you carry on like this he'll kill-!"

"You don't understand a thing, woman!"

"I understand that if you don't-!"

"Hey you two."

They closed their mouths tightly and stared at each other in silence for a moment before twisting their heads to look at Juugo. He was looking down to his feet, but perceived their stare.

"This is all my fault. Karin, you don't need to shout at him like that."

"Ugh…" She blushed and adjusted her glasses; her brows furrowed. "I-it's not like that! I'm angry at that idiot because he's fooling around too much with Sasuke! He'll chidori his ass up and-!"

"Listen up." It was a whisper.

Juugo and Karin looked at the shark-teethed man. He looked serious.

"I don't now what happened between those two –he motioned toward the hallway and the front door with his head.- in the past, but somehow, Sasuke looks healthier with her around." He continued to whisper.

"Healthier .Did you just say 'healthier'?" Karin raised an eyebrow. "You call _that _ealthier? Are you nuts?"

"Well you didn't see Sasuke popping snakes out of his ass last week did you?"

"..What now, are you talking about last week? We just experienced something creepy enough minutes ago."

"That doesn't matter, it was just some annoying tantrum; he must be on his period or something." Suigetsu then nodded. "I'm talking about last week, yes. You who can sense his chakra better than anyone, I'm sure there has been some difference with its behavior, huh?"

"…So what!" She didn't actually want to think about it. "It has nothing to do because that's not the case _now_. Who knows? Maybe he just has had a good week." She closed her eyes and shrugged one shoulder, frowning.

"Come on, Sasuke don't have good weeks. I say that we should investigate." And there it was, his smirk with one tooth coming out and pressing against his bottom lip.

Juugo blinked. "An investigation?"

"Aa." Suigetsu smirked. "If what Karin says is true, then we'll take her back to her precious Konoha and cancel the faker." He lifted one finger up. "Let's give him one week. After all, he doesn't have _anything _to do with this."

He bit his tongue and laughed strangely, oh, _how fun_. Then he continued.

"The princess will be _our _hostage from now on. And we'll make a better use of it, definitely." He took a deep breath. "If in one week Uchiha Sasuke doesn't lose himself, let's give the princess a warm welcome to the team." He reached out a fist.

Juugo punched it while nodding (he still couldn't comprehend the situation very well, tough). He looked at Karin, who was with her arms crossed.

"For Sasuke's saaakee…" Suigetsu whispered in a singsong voice.

"… God, you're so childish. And 'for Sasuke's sake' my ass, you're just bored…"

Suigetsu's grin just widened… Hah, they really didn't know anything…

Her knuckles touched Suigetsu's.

* * *

...

Two heads sneaked out of a tree's trunk, chakras well hidden and eyes well focused.

Their leader was sitting above a big flat rock with his legs crossed, wiping the blood out of his sword's blade. He looked extremely thoughtful (his eyes were totally locked and focused on nothing in particular) and annoyed; the blade had been long ago cleaned, but his palm covered by a rag was still sliding back and forth against it.

"…" Karin frowned.

"_Well?"_ Suigetsu asked using Taka's personal hand codes, usually necessary in spying missions, which was… kind of like this case.

"…" Her eyelids had semiclosed, making her look even more disturbed as one of her eyebrows was still perfectly arched above her lashes. _"It seems that he's calmed down."_ She gestured and looked at him.

"_Told ya."_

Karin rolled her eyes while turning her head back to where Sasuke was. She tilted her chin backward as the place was now empty. He was gone.

"H-hey, idiot," She shook Suigetsu's shoulder with her hand. "He's gone."

"Well, yeah, I can see that."

"Who is gone?"

…

… … …

They froze as a figure behind their bodies stood by a tall tree stalk; his body crouched between the shadows of the pines' leaves and his eyes shinning black and intimidating both easily even from behind. Both taka members turned around at the same time and looked up at him in what seemed awe and

"S-Sasuke! Hey man."

"Are you spying on me?"

"No! It's not like that." Suigetsu said. Karin curved her mouth downward, he sucked at lying! His chakra was totally uncontrolled now.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes. Did they take him for stupid? "Then.. who's gone?"

"You, of course! I was looking for ya." Suigetsu pointed at him with his pale finger. "I wanted to make peace treat with you." His pointing finger turned into an open hand. "We need to concentrate on the enemy, not in ourselves, ne?"

"…"

_Tap. _Sasuke stepped on the shallow snow beneath their feet.

"…I just hope that you realize that you are an _idiot_." He said as he turned around.

Although.. after taking two steps, he halted. And Karin and Suigetsu didn't know why, but their shoulders tensed at that. The Uchiha then looked above his shoulder, his eyes looking at the grass that was from a considerable distance.

"…Who's with her if you're here?" He asked, finally turning his black pupils to look at them.

"…" The two teammates looked at each other and then at Sasuke. "Juugo?" They said at the same time.

…

_Oh….oh-oh-_

…

"You…" He clenched a fist. "You left her alone with Juugo?"

…

_Oh._

"Oh!"

_Shit__._

.

_

* * *

_

_I'm just having fun... just writing. You can tell me what you think, I'll keep on writing nevertheless~ xD I want to thank, too, all the feedback I had for the forth chapie, all the reviews, alerts, everything. Thank you very much :bows: This story is developing at a slow pace, but i'm working on it. Multi-chapter fanfics have never been my forte. I can really get lost. _ _"  
_

_I miss the green deadly review bottom ;-;_

_This one works too... I guess. Would you click it? :D  
_


	6. The mad house

_Heya._

_Hm-mm… I'm not a Sakura fan, I think that's one big reason why she isn't so marvelous for now (although that's because I keep her ill, I'm so evil :giggle snort:) But don't worry. I SAID DON'T WORRY. And apparently I'll keep on playing with your heads.__ The fanfic's plot happens in Ninja Worldy but the story's different okay? Okay. I'm doing experiments with this fanfic if you didn't notice xD Maybe when I finish it I'll rewrite it better.  
_

_Rated M.  
_

_The author apologizes for the late update, for now instead of thinking about that, enjoy this chapter ok?  
_

_

* * *

_

_She's gone. She's gone. She's-_

_You idiot.

* * *

_-o/

**Masshiro Bride:**

The vermilion Leader and the white Bride.

o\-

-/oll **Chapter Six **llo\-

...

Her pink head went from side to side above the soft pillow; her lips parted as she panted painfully, her long lashes were clasped against each other as her green eyes were tightly closed. Her throat was awfully tight, suppressing a constant nausea that was so strong that she didn't know how the vomit was still inside her mouth and trapped there on her throat. There was nothing worse than a high fever and cold weather together, so.. uncomfortable…

"Hah… haa…" She whispered mindlessly. "Mm…soh…h-"

For some reason, she wanted to cry. Maybe it was because she didn't want to be sick like that anymore, maybe it was because she was still inside that –to her honest _horror_- comfy bedroom, maybe it was because.. she still didn't know why he had been covered in blood. But those thoughts were only present inside the depths of her mind. She couldn't think properly at the moment as she kept panting and whispering things, wanting to cry without being able to. She clutched the sheets and comforters strongly. Her head spun like a mad whipping-top.

"Sa…a-"

Sakura opened her eyes suddenly, and the ceiling she saw was crooked. There was a monstrous chakra coming from somewhere inside the house. And generally, sensing another chakra was a strange feeling itself, it made one's body tingle. And if it was possible, Sakura became even dizzier after feeling it.

* * *

_Time to play a gaamee.._

_

* * *

_She sat up and immediately held her head between her shaky hands. Once the loop in her brain stilled, she loosely grabbed the kunai which was placed above the little table next to Sasuke's bed, failing the first two tries. Her lips were parted in a constant panting that became uneven and she felt really nauseous.

She wondered, whose chakra that could be. The first thing she thought was Konoha's ninjas, a tiny sparkle of hope lightened at the thought, but then she realized that they wouldn't use such amount of chakra if the house was so quiet, a discreet entrance was definitely more appropriate if they wanted to attack the hideout. She couldn't hear team Taka, boots walking on the wooden floor and those two loudmouths shouting at each other, and she frowned at that. What was happening?

Sakura then heard an eerie growl.

And the chakra intensified.

Quickly, she unsteadily tried to hide her chakra and got up from the bed to sit beside it -almost tripping on the process-, on the side which didn't face the door, so her small body could hide behind the bed. Her knees curved at the level of her chin and she held the sharp weapon with both hands, panting lightly. And again she asked herself, what was _happening._

The kunoichi heard a thump coming from the hallway, really close to the bedroom's door, and started to tremble in fear though she didn't want to. Somehow, she was much more scared than usual: when a shinobi is ill, he or she either stay at home or have the protection of the teammates during a mission. Also the fever didn't help her to think straight. Sakura was scared… something told her that if it was an enemy she wouldn't be able to defeat it at all, she could barely focus her sight on one spot and apparently no one was inside the house but her.

"_I need to kill someone,eehh…" _Said the unknown person from the other side of the wall.

Sakura frowned, that sounded like…? She looked over her shoulder and lifted her chin just above the bed to see the door. The chakra was now in front of it. She sobbed in surprise and quickly turned her head away, hitting her chin against her knees again. Aside from the fever, her palms sweated. The kunoichi clenched her teeth. Damn it… The tension… the tension was too much for her to handle. Calm down, _calm down._

"_Is there anybody in heeeree?" _While the voice frighteningly spoke, a fingernail dug on the wood of the door from the other side and traced a line through it, producing a creepy sound of cracking wood. Sakura gripped the kunai harder.

…

…

"_Oh, someone's __hiding…Hehe..heheahaha.. I know there's a pretty one theree," _The voice hoarsely said. _"The special pretty oneee…"_

Sakura now laid on the floor, behind the bed that felt like her only poor salvation in that situation. Her pink hair sprawled around her head and she brought the edges of her long skirt closer to her feet, to hide her figure better although it felt useless to her. She closed her eyes tightly, sweating, not wanting to think anymore, and held the kunai on her chest firmly between her palms. As absurd as it sounded, she wanted Sasuke to be there.

-/o

…

…

("_You__…-_

…

The Haruno slightly opened one eye. Silence. Deep silence. The clock ticked but everything was still. A drop of sweat slid through her neck.

..Was it…gon-

...

_-__You left her alone with __Juugo__?")_

…

-/o.

**KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK! **_**"Is there anybody in there?"**_

"ah..!" She smashed a palm above her mouth. Shit!

"_OOhh.. hohohhh.. So there is someone in _**HERE!**"

"Damn it!"

_Crack! _

The door which had developed a new latch system since the last incident was violently kicked down and some pieces of wood flew across the room.

Sakura stood up from the floor, hiding was no longer an option. She moved away from the bed to look at the orange haired man sickly standing above the broken door with probably the biggest knife the house's kitchen had.

He nodded the tip of the knife at her. _"You were pretending to escape without being noticed? Were you?" _He made a disapproval face when she didn't say a word. _"I kill you slowly. Hehh.."_

"...i-is this who you really are?" Sakura looked frightened, but at the same time determinate to show no weakness. That man looked like the more humanized member of that team, and yet, another disappointment had been waiting for her apparently.

He ran toward her noisily and she was taken back, unable to do something to protect herself as her body ached because of the fever. A kick on her stomach was enough to make the fragile woman fall on her back with a low yelp. Once he had her trapped under his body, he cut her soft arm with the blade of the kitchen knife, deeply.

"A-aaah!" She watched how the extremities of the cut slowly split apart and the blood started to come out from the wound and slide through her pale skin. "Gh…! S-stop it!"

"_Were expecting something better, heeeh?" _He smiled insanely and licked the corner of his mouth.

"..Don't do this!" Spit flew from her mouth as she screamed. "Wh-why…" She was confused, confused, so confused. What was this? Where was he?

"_You don't understand woman. …There's nothing more pleasurable than cutting soft skin!"_

Juugo lifted the knife again and Sakura widened her eyes. Her mind, as well as her body didn't obey her commands; she wanted to close her eyes or escape and yet the only thing she could do was to look intensively at the blade without blinking, frozen.

…

…

But after one minute, Sakura could still see the stained red blade above their bodies. And she had totally forgotten about it, because the next second, she could feel something _worse _than the fear she had for that knife on her skin again.

The poor pink haired almost vomited. She had had to gulp it down and burn her throat -feel the awful and acid taste slide down through it.

_Ssss…._

Was a low sound.

The white snake that had entered the room quietly made its way to Juugo's arm, slowly encircling it until its head hung beside the tip of the kitchen knife. The snake had yellow eyes that paralyzed anyone who dared to look at them. It climbed the arm furtherer, so the snake had space to clutch only the fist holding the knife with its tale while the body hung in the air to look at Juugo right at _his face._

_

* * *

Two can play this game.

* * *

_

"_Hhhhhhhsssssss…." _It showed its fangs threateningly.

"Juugo."

Sakura's headache worsened and tears fell from her eyes. Even feeling so horrible at that moment… why was she so relieved?

"What.. are you" …_** "..doing?"**_

_Sasuke-kun has come to rescue you._

"Bring me a rope, Suigetsu."

_So you don't need to cry anymore…_

Sakura passed out.

* * *

...

When she opened her tired eyes, the first thing she saw was the familiar ceiling of Sasuke's room again. Sakura took a deep breath and her head jumped; she felt a little better…

"Hey."

"!"

When she turned to see who it was, she oddly felt angry upon seeing Karen there, sitting next to her as if nothing, looking at her with disgust as she always did. Where was she minutes before?

"O-ow.."

"Am I hurting you?"

"…" Sakura looked away. "..Does it matter.."

"…Hm."

Both women watched Karin poking Sakura's wound with a cotton ball drenched in alcohol. The redheaded frowned worriedly; it was really stupid to leave her alone with bipolar Juugo. Anyone who knew him would think the same while cleaning such a deep wound like that.

"I apologize…" She mumbled, annoyed.

"…" She closed her eyes tightly as the needle pierced her arm, but then she relaxed again. "Don't open your mouth if you won't mean what you say."

The woman narrowed her eyes behind the glasses, and poked the wound harder than before. Instead of having a yelp as a reply, a strong grip halted her hand, and she saw those annoyingly green eyes. _Don't even think about it, and I can still do this perfectly on my own_, Sakura was warning her with angry eyes.

"_AAAAHHHH!"_

"…"

"…"

It had been the second time by now.

"..Someone ought to stop him."

Karin finally took her time to look at her, and the girl looked like shit. "Are you forgetting the one who gave you this?" She lifted the damaged arm lightly.

"You say that? …I though I was the one who didn't matter here." She took a deep breath. "You're so strange… -And I can tell he wasn't himself back then."

"…" The woman wearing glasses coldly looked at Sakura. "How sweet. Now go there and tell Sasuke that."

"_Aaaaahaahhh!"_

"…"

"…"

Green eyes were squeezed.

"Wait, I haven't finis—H-hey? HEY! COME BACK HERE! -…Stupid girl."

"Sasuke, come on man, chill out."

The white snake hissed at him.

"Ugh, okay fine. Do what you will, kill the man." Suigetsu rolled his eyes.

He then felt a presence by the entrance of the room and turned his head to the door: eventually the princess came in as predicted, slamming the door open and making her long hair dance in the air; she almost tripped at her fierceness.

"Stop it you..- Sasuke!"

No response.

"Where's the necessity in doing this? For God's sake!"

"Shut _up_." Sasuke turned around and saw green (green _green green- why so fucking _green?) eyes. "I'll do things my way."

"This is _not _your way!" She pointed at the man tied up on a chair.

"I'm tired of _you _talking about my _own _decisions. _Lecturing _me?" He stretched his arm brusquely, the one with the tight fist holding his sword, to emphasize his anger. "You're no one to do that, does that enter in your _damn head_?"

"_I _was the one alone! _I _was the one scared!_ I_ am the one sick! _I_ am the one _hurt_!" She punched the door's frame with the side of the fist. "_You _are no one in this matter, Sasuke! Who on earth asked you to do _this?_ If you're tired of _me _then why don't you just get rid of me? I'm weak, vulnerable, hurt and sick! Isn't this the perfect opportunity?"

So from that moment on… Sasuke had four different outside reactions to his fits, Suigetsu contemplated. He had Juugo who never said a word, Karin who pathetically trembled before him, Suigetsu who smirked and said sarcastic things and now this crazy woman who shouted at him as she liked. He turned his head to Sasuke, watching his response.

His Sharingan started to swirl madly. Deep inside his insane mind, he wished with all his might that she quieted, because right now, he wasn't sane. If she said anything else, he would hurt her without thinking twice and he _didn't _desire that. Deep inside his mind. Right now, he was sickly imagining different ways of transforming that pretty face into one of pure agony with his own stained hands.

"Ooookay! I think that's enough drama for today!" Suigetsu got up from the bed and stood between the two ex-partners; who were glaring at each other so sickly that their bodies shook slightly in anger. "Sasuke. I honestly think you were too harsh on the poor Juuguis. Let him rest for now."

In a swish, he was gone.

Sakura's face fell, and she wanted to cry again. Throw up again. She had to turn her head with a great deal of sanity to look at the man sitting on the chair. He was drooling blood and saliva, his eyes were unfocused and he sweated while shaking unsteadily. She had never seen a man in that state before, with those dead eyes and wounded body. It was a harsh combination.

"S-stop… enough…" He whispered.

"…"

"…Sasuke used some fucked up Sharingan on him."

"…why..?"

Before Suigetsu could say anything, the pink haired woman dressed in white approached the empty headed man and untied him slowly. The white haired shinobi looked at Karin, who had just entered Sasuke's room, and she returned the glance. _Fuck._

_What are you doing__? Stop. Don't take any step furtherer. _

"…" Her eyes hardened.

_What do you care. Let them kill themselves like that. Just like that. They are enemies.__ If they carry on like this, you'll have a free ticket back to Konoha._

She could hear his incoherent whispering, begging to stop.

_And their minds will be too occupied to take any plan into action._

And his body shook so miserably.

_Isn't that what you want?_

…_It's because this isn't__ fair. _She assured herself.

"…Un." She hummed as she kneeled in front of him to have eye contact.

"…" He looked up at her. "I…" Juugo made a weird sound with his mouth, as he had lifted his tongue from the blood pool that had formed underneath it when he said the weak word. His bottom teeth were soaked with red blood. "I didn't mean.. it." The corners of his eyes had tears of something unknown.

A pair of tears fell from her eyes as well. She shouldn't be crying. She wasn't crying for this man. She was crying for the responsible of this act. The one who once had his mind played with was now the one who tricked with others' heads. Incomprehensive. "I… I can see that. Maybe you shouldn't have been hurt more than I was, it's not fair."

"…"

"…Sasuke can't see that."

"Sasuke-san… I… don't… let him hurt you like I did."

"…" She stared at his face. "He won't." _…right?_

"A-and…." His jaw shook. "d-don't let him hurt you… like he did to me."

"…"

Sakura stood up when Juugo passed out, chin up, and looked at the window's landscape: the white forest some meters away from the house's yard.

_Sasuke.._

…_What have you become? _

_

* * *

...  
_

"…"

Tic. Tac.

_What does he want from me?_

"…"

Tic. Tac.

"…Eo, princess."

"…"

She didn't open her eyes, just sniffed lightly.

"…It was our fault."

"…"

"You, too, shouldn't take this so seriously."

"…" Sakura rolled to her side and gave a nice view of her back. "He's tortured a person."

"That person was about to do the same to you. It would be wise to take my advice and _stay _away from Juugo, you know, it seems that he's liked you. And that's not good, let me tell ya. It's not like him to take it slow; Juugo chooses his prey and bam! the end. You should be dead by now."

…

Tic. Tac.

"I'm studying medicine.. you know." She explained calmly, although Sakura always had that mask covering her face. She was disturbed and confused _and _sick, not calm. "I used to work at Konoha's main hospital. And… everyone knows: the ninja world is hard. But nurses and doctors can see it everyday, feel it everyday, taking care of guilty, innocent, weak victims of this constant war. I've… I've learned to worship the human body, respect it more than anything. Ninjas can do wonders but they're still humans." She made a fist. "I can't stand it… H-his face, his wounded body.. I can't take them out of my head… How could he.."

"He was scared shitless."

The long lashes adorning her beautiful green eyes lifted barely one inch, but she had finally opened her eyes.

"Sasuke yelled at us badly and did that weird thing with his Sharingan." He swirled his finger in a centrifugal way. "I've honestly never seen him worrying about anything but himself and his plans. And I thought, wow, he doesn't even know if Juuguis has gone berserk." Suigetsu said while showing his palms.

"…"

"He…uh,-" Should he say it? "He seems to care about y—"

"Then why doesn't he let me go?" She turned around and threw the covers of the bed away. Her head spun and she could just see a blur instead of the neat figure of Suigetsu, but she kept on talking. "You see me? You see this?" She lifted the skirt of her dress and waved it angrily. "_This _is where I belong! And I've put him above Konoha once! Above everything else in my life!" She paused to calm down her palpitations. "..Sasuke had a very special place in my heart.." She whispered sadly. "..You don't have _any _idea of how I've dreamed about this. About being here, with him, in his bed, waiting for him to come from some issue! But he never gave it to me!" She looked down. "…The only thing he's done is reject me _again_ and leave… And now that I have my own life, away from him, he takes me with him? That's… that's cruel… That.. is not done to a person…"

The white haired man was a bit speechless. So they did have a strong past… It confused him more, Sasuke once told him that he had thrown everything he had away to fulfill their plans.. And now he was looking at the produce of the damage he had caused to those he left. This woman... maybe she shouldn't be here after all.

Sakura scowled at Suigetsu bitterly. "And I don't even know why I'm saying this to _you._"

"…Can you te—"

"Suigetsu."

Said man pouted boringly. The voice had come from behind him; he glanced at the pink haired. She was covering her body again while lying down, only that this time she covered her face too, the tips of her fingers were the only visible part of her body exposed by the edge of the comforter. He stood up from the chair where Juugo was once sitting that cold morning and turned around to see a silhouette with messy hair, slightly bathed by the moonlight.

"_Take it easy." _Was the face of the man with shark teeth. The Uchiha just stared at him.

The door was closed and Sakura started to sweat beneath the covers. Was she now alone with Sasuke inside that dark room..? The silence answered her question. It was a tense silence.

Tic. Tac. Tic. Tac.

For a minute or so, there was absolutely no sound hearable surrounding the room, the house or them. And she started to wonder what Sasuke wanted from her -not just in that moment. What business could he possibly have with her now that his team was in crisis? …She was just the weak (weaker than Naruto, she'll never forget that) annoying fangirl after him. And the pink haired mentally shook her head. Those thoughts were out of the question now; she was angry and disappointed at him, it was better to move aside those silly details of the past. So she focused on how the moonlight above the covers lightened her hand resting on the mattress.

"..Sakura."

She learned to hate his voice.

Sasuke, from his part, didn't really know what to say or do. It was clear now that she did not wish to see his face… and he could understand that in a way. He didn't say any other word and stepped closer to the bed with the immobile bulge. The raven stopped next to his bed (although that was a bit questionable as he wasn't using it often these days), where thin pink strands popped out from underneath the sheets and comforters and sprawled above the lonely pillow. He heard her sneeze inside the childish cave.

"…"

_Frrluuu! _The covers were thrown to the foot of the bed.

"Ah!" The woman who had been revealed curled up.

..Ah, it really looked like Sakura wouldn't show him a shy smile with a slight and feminine blush. It would be a glare, a frown, or a sad face. In this case, she chose her best (yet prettiest) glare and showed it to him, with no friendly intentions of talking. So the stubborn Haruno turned around and hid her angry face from Sasuke, taking the weak opportunity to rest her cheek on the pillow soft again. As she did so, the Uchiha noticed the wrapped wound of her arm –now exposed- and narrowed his eyes, outlining the bags under his onyx eyes. The bandage was covered by dry blood.

"…How do you feel?"

But she didn't say a word. Just took the covers again and covered her body again, although this time her pink head was visible. The light contact of her arm brushing the sheets made her wound ache a bit, so she carefully rested her arm above the covers, exposing her pretty shoulder, again. And she was annoyed by that, because her intention had been to avoid any possible concern towards the treated cut before him.

Tic. Tac.

Sakura heard him move and slightly tensed; she was waiting for him to go away and yet found herself nervous when he made his first move. Between shifting noises coming from his clothes as he walked, she could hear how he sat down on the chair where Suigetsu …and Juugo, had been before, how the wood made noise. The silence remained, and the pinkette joined her palms and placed them beneath her cheek, in a possible sleeping position. She soon after felt him rest his boats against the bed frame were the covers and mattress tuck in. Her eyes eventually got more used to the darkness until everything inside that cold room was covered by a thin layer of light blue. She had no curiosity to look above her shoulder, not even the minimum glance.

"..You healed him." He stated as if waiting for an explanation.

"…" She closed her eyes. She wanted him to leave, but found the situation incompatible with that wish as they were in _his _room after all. "That's my job." She murmured, and didn't know why.

"Your job is to heal th—"

"My job is to heal people."

"I don't see your arm healed."

Why couldn't he just leave?

"..There's not enough chakra. I'm too sick if you didn't realize it yet."

Sakura was holding back the pants, breathing deeply and inhaling through the mouth as silently as possible. Her head was still spinning, the pill that Suigetsu had brought to her was turning out to be really useless and she cursed it. Still she could hold the dizziness; the Haruno would not feel weak beside Uchiha Sasuke.

"You shouldn't ha—"

"What do you want?" She interrupted, the question held between annoyance and pain.

"…"

Of course, asking Sasuke direct questions never worked.

The silence carried on, the fever and sleepiness turned the tension into an odd comfort and Sakura's lids started to feel heavy. When she closed them completely, cold fingers wrapped around her shoulder, and her body (warm –perhaps too warm) jumped. She pushed her shoulder backward to turn her upper body around and looked at Sasuke, who was the one who initiated the first contact between both of them in such a long time.

Sakura couldn't read the dark look of his that was staring at her bandaged arm, but realizing that Sasuke was inspecting her deep wound bothered her. The pink haired shook her shoulder, but he didn't let it go. She shook harder, until her breath came out in pants again, brushing against her bottom lip as her teeth were clenched, and his grip only tightened. The once soft touch turned into a slightly aggressive one as Sakura fought back while the young man tried to get a good grip of her arm. Neither of them spoke a word.

Sasuke glared at her. _Stay still._

"I don't wan—Ow-!" The bastard squeezed her arm lightly to make her shut up and obey.

"…"

They glared at each other and Sakura finally loosened her shoulders, pouting angrily very lightly. She sat and leaned against the headboard reluctantly, refusing to look at the Uchiha, who didn't have intentions of looking at her face either.

She watched how his hands unknotted the tie of the bandage and unwrapped it from her thin arm. Her eyes narrowed lightly after seeing the state of the stitch that had opened a bit. ..Shouldn't have moved that much after all. Sasuke seemed to have thought the same, as he sighed clearly annoyed.

Her green eyes watched everything, and for that quiet instant, she couldn't help but feel a little self-satisfied as she noticed every little mistake the Uchiha made, although of course, they weren't very serious.

And then she frowned lightly, when she was aware that his large hands were trembling almost unnoticeably. It wasn't from nervousness, his palms weren't sweating nor his shoulders were tense, and she took a very quickly glance to assure herself; his face was relaxed and with no traces of that light frown he would have when nervous. Cold couldn't be either, the bedroom strangely was quite warm even if she was burning with fever.

After a couple of minutes (they didn't have any idea of how many), Sakura flinched when Sasuke tightened the small knot of the new bandage wrapping her deep and clean cut. The pink haired pouted angrily while Sasuke placed everything above the metallic tray that for some reason had been there even before she was there. Always above the side table, she assumed it was because he would lock himself in there to heal his wounds alone.

"You didn't have t–"

"I know."

"You.." She scowled angrily, but his face remained blank, showing no interest in what she was about to say. "I don't want you touching me!"

He stood up before heading to the exit. Sakura watched him and touched her arm. ..She didn't understand him.

"…If you respect the human body, eat and take care of yours."

And he left.

It was then that she realized that Sasuke had the same smell as that comfy bedroom. And she didn't like it.

Sakura wasn't able to catch her sleep again that night.

_Tic… tac…_

_

* * *

_

_Ow Sasuke, you fucking bastard._

_:sigh: I always feel lighter after updating XD But rawr, I hate ffnet Edit/Preview Document u.u" _

_Hm... Review this Chapter_? _What do you say?_


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